


The World is Ours

by dotti55



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Yaoi, lawlight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-09
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-01-31 06:51:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 48,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12676617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dotti55/pseuds/dotti55
Summary: Matt and Mello arre on their own and living in New York, until a visit to L gets them involved in a case with him and a rapidly blooming romance between L and and a young detective on the Japanese police force.  M/M, eventual Lawlight and Near/OCThis is a previously published story but a reader told me I had neglected to add it here on AO3 so I'm adding it now.  (Waves at 2weird4u)





	1. Chapter 1

The World Is Ours

Chapter 1

"Jeezus Mello if you don't stop I'm never gonna get this done!" the red head complained as he leaned over the computer rewiring the modem. Behind him his blonde, leather clad lover was making circles on his ass with his finger tips.

"Sorry, you can't expect me to ignore an opportunity when it's staring me in the face!" he said laughing.

"Yea, well when I finish I'm going to PUNCH you in the face if you don't stop it right now!"

That made Mello laugh even harder but he did stop distracting Matt from his work. He went across the room and sat in one of the chair, draping one leg across the arm as he reached inside his vest for a candy bar.

"You're right, the view is much better from over here." He said chuckling. Matt finished and stood up, turning the power back on and waiting to see if it worked properly. When all the lights were flashing he booted up the computer and smiled happily as it sprang into life, internet lights flashing.

"Alright, back in business." He said and sat down at the computer. Mello looked at the clock.

"Not a moment too soon, it's almost time for Dad's call." Matt burst out laughing.

"Oh man don't ever let him hear you call him that." He said continuing to laugh. Mello shrugged and sat up straight in the chair.

"I think he'd appreciate it. Maybe we could send him a tie for father's day." They both laughed at that idea.

"Oh yea, it'll go so well with that white shirt," Matt added, "Crap, where's the file he's going to be calling about?" he began to frantically look around the desk just as the computer buzzed. He looked absolutely terror stricken when he saw the archaic L floating on the screen in front of him.

"Well, answer it you know he hates waiting." Mello said picking up a folder lying on the table in front of him and handing it to Matt, who nearly passed out from relief.

"This is Matt." He said connecting the call.

"It's about time, why were you so long in answering?" came the familiar monotone thru the speakers, a tone of aggravation making itself known.

"I'm sorry L, I had some difficulty with the modem." Mello laughed at Matt, covering the sound with his hand.

"So what have you found out for me?" Matt opened the folder and pulled out several papers.

"It appears you were right with your idea that there was a failed ponzi scheme behind the murders of all those Wall Street executives. It appears they wanted out and it was far too late to escape. It's detailed on the report I'm sending you now." Matt said feeding the fax machine attached to the computer. There was silence from L as the information arrived and he perused it. They could hear paper rattling over the speakers and they looked at each other hoping it would be acceptable to their mentor/father figure.

"Excellent work, gentlemen.. Your deductions are well thought out and you have concrete proof of your theories. You came to exactly the same conclusion as I did, and you did one step better by having the proof readily available. Excellent." Matt and Mello both exhaled the breath they'd been holding, Matt sagging against the chair, Mello sliding down to the floor, searching for another chocolate bar.

"Sooo we did good?" Matt giggled into the microphone and heard a slight chuckle in return.

"Yes, you did. But I expected no less from you. Will you be coming back for a visit now that you've solved this case?" Matt looked at Mello and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Probably. Depends on if something else comes up anytime soon."

"Why? Do you miss us?" Mello piped up from the floor and there was another chuckle from the computer.

"I can't imagine why you would even think that. I have quite enjoyed the quiet in the house since you two left. I believe Near misses you is why I ask." Mello snorted at the idea.

"Yea, sure he does. He's loving the fact he's got you all to himself right now I'm sure." Matt looked over at his partner and could see that he was only half joking. Apparently even now the rivalry was still strong.

"Mello, you know you are all equal to me." L stated, a slight hint of annoyance in L's tone and Mello sighed.

"Yes, I know. Forget I said anything, sorry." He answered.

"If nothing exciting comes up by the end of the week I'll make sure we get a flight back out there, L. We haven't been home in quite a while." Matt said to lighten the mood.

"That would be agreeable. I will pass it on to Watari and Near. I've got other pressing cases now that this one is solved. I need to contact the authorities in New York and let them know what you have discovered so they can take the next proper steps."

"Good, glad we could help, L. Good night." Matt said and the L disappeared. He looked down at Mello who was still hunched on the floor.

"Mello, you have to stop this bullshit with Near. There's no reason for it anymore."

"I know, it's an automatic reflex. It's not like I don't care for Near, I do." Matt got out of the chair and sat next to Mello on the floor. He put his fingers under Mello's chin and lifted it so he was staring into his blue eyes.

"I know you do, you don't have to explain it to me. " he leaned forward and captured the blonde's mouth with his, kissing him softly. When he pulled back Mello smiled at him.

"I don't know how much more fucked up I'd be if I didn't have you." He said and Matt laughed.

"I don't even want to think about it. Come on, let's go get something to eat, I'm starving." He started to stand and Mello stopped him grabbing his hand.

"I'm serious, Matt. I love you." Matt smiled back at him.

"I love you too, and I knew you were serious, so am I. " he ran his hand through the blond hair, smiling.

"I'm also serious when I say I'm starving, let's go eat." He reiterated and this time Mello let him get up and he got up right behind him.

"So what'll it be tonight?" he asked brushing himself off.

"Chinese, I could kill for some Tao's Chicken." Mello nodded in agreement.

"Alright, sounds good." He said and headed for the door, Matt in hot pursuit.

After dinner they walked from China Town to their apartment on the upper East Side. It was a long walk, but it was a beautiful warm evening in the city and there were many bars to stop in along the way in between for a drink and more conversation.

They had first moved here not too long after graduation to see if they could work on their own and be more of a help to L being outside of Wammy's. L at first had not been too keen on their leaving the safety of W  
ammy's but understood they felt they had to prove themselves not only to themselves but to him so he allowed them to go. In all honesty they were of age to make their own decisions now, it was only out of respect and love for him that they had asked his permission and he acknowledged it. That was something it took him a while to get used to; the fact they were no longer the three little boys that would surround him for a show of affection after working hard on cases, but young men.

Now they were extensions of L when necessary, and when he didn't have anything for them they would check the radar and see what kinds of situations could use their expertise. Like L, it had to be something above and beyond the normal police work, and they would work the case on their own, and submit information to the proper authorities, saying they were working with L, which he allowed. They had discussed going completely on their own, but they didn't want to be competition for L, that he wouldn't stand for, but perhaps they could start their own type of investigational services. Taking cases that had gone cold for the police, missing persons, old murders, things of that nature. They had discussed that over dinner and decided they would go over it with L and see what he thought when they went back home.

They had also discussed the third member of L's heirs who had elected to stay with L and worked with him there. Unlike them he had no wild side or mad desire to be out and about. Near was much more like L than they were personality wise, he preferred to be sequestered away as he worked, his contact with the outside world limited to computer lines and the occasional television show.

They were now in Times Square, sitting in the bar of the Marriot Hotel, watching the city go by as the restaurant itself rotated.

"So what are we going to do about your problem with Near? When are you gonna outgrow this rivalry crap?" Matt asked Mello, then regretted how he worded the question when he saw the flash of anger in his partner's eyes.

"It never mattered to you because you never really cared one way or another, so you don't understand." Mello answered and took another sip of his drink.

"Okay, maybe I worded it wrong, I'm sorry. But this has gone on since we were little kids, Mello. We're adults now, there are no more challenges, no more test scores, no more report cards, there is NOTHING left for you to compete against him for. Certainly not L's affections, you know better than that. How many times has he told you that?"

"I know that Matt, I can't help these feelings I've always had. No matter how hard I tried, I could never do anything as well as Near. He's always managed to best me at everything. I couldn't even rattle him like I did the other kids, he could totally ignore me. Then to have him be better at everything we did in school..it just always pissed me off."

"Why's it so important to be better than him, Mello? What does it prove? It doesn't change anything."

"When we were kids it mattered just because I had to be better than everyone at everything, it was just me. I think it gave me something that made me different from all of the other kids there, I wasn't just another orphan. I was bigger than most of the kids, I could overpower all of them."

"Yea you were a real terror at Wammy's, everyone was afraid of you." Matt said laughing.

"Yea, except you. That's what attracted me to you, you had the balls to tell me to shut the fuck up." They both laughed at that, remembering when a very loud and boisterous young Mello invaded Matt's game playing space and he turned and very loudly told him exactly that, and shocking the young Mello into stunned silence, and making him want to know just exactly who this guy was who so very easily shut him up.

"Okay, I get it. You were alone and all you had was your pride to make you feel special. Mello, guess what? We were all alone there, until we became heirs to L, then we at least had L. You love Near as a brother, you know that. Stop marring it with these old feelings. Because if you don't I'm just gonna have to kick your ass until you grow the hell up and stop it. Now you owe me at least fifty bucks for the psycho session."

Mello stared at him wide eyed and open mouthed before he realized Matt had done it to him again. On top of that, he was absolutely right. He started laughing and finished his drink.

"You need a better bedside manner, Doc. Let's go." He said climbing off the stool.

"Thank God, I need a cigarette like crazy now." Matt said laughing and Mello pushed him towards the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Near heard the tail end of L's conversation with Matt and Mello and smiled as he came in. It would be good if they came back to visit soon, he did actually miss them being around, he even missed being picked on sometimes. In one hand he held several files, in the other one of his beloved robots, and he made his way over to his section of the room.

L had his apartment redone so that there was a large section next to where he was where Near could work alongside him, though not underfoot. His computer and screens were set up very much like L's. L provided him with some of his lesser cases to work on, all under his supervision of course, but giving him free reign to make his own decisions, use of contacts, and anything else he would need to solve and clear it out. He would also on occasion provide a little back up for Matt and Mello when they needed contact help. Near was very much like L; he preferred to work alone, sequestered at a desk and computer whereas the other two preferred to be out and about. He found that he was quite happy with his world right now, working alongside the one person he cared for and respected the most.

For L, he couldn't be more proud of his heirs. Always having worked and been alone, he would have never thought he would enjoy having someone alongside him as he worked, but Near was different. Near's temperment was so much like his that when they did work together it was almost in tandem and with no arguments. L's was always the final word on everything if there was ever a question, so that was never a problem. He watched as Near walked past him and sat down in his own chair on the far side of the room. He felt the familiar warmth of affection for the boy, well young man now, before he turned back to his own computer.

"Which one are you working on now, Near?" he asked dipping his fork into the chocolate cake that was sitting next to his keyboard.

"The Van Gogh murders, where each of the victims have one of their ears removed by the killer." L nodded and took another bite of his cake.

"Trophies or just something to do to make himself different from other killers?" Near looked thoughtful for a moment, his finger twirling a piece of his snow white hair, and then looked back at L.

"I don't think those explanations need be exclusive of each other in this case, L." L stopped chewing for a moment and smiled at Near.

"You are quite right, Near. I don't believe they are exclusive of each other as well. He or she is trying to throw you off track. Continue." Near smiled back with that small flush of pride he allowed himself to feel when his theories were proven right and L was pleased.

The door to the apartment opened and Wammy came in, a trolley filled with L's sweets and food for Near. Near turned and eyed the trolley hungrily.

"Wammy how do you always know exactly what I want when I want it?" he asked as placed the older man move the trolley between them. Wammy glanced back at L and then looked back at Near.

"Years of practice, Near." He said and Near grinned while L continued eating his chocolate cake, oblivious to the entire conversation.

The next morning Mello awoke to find Matt wrapped around him. They had both fallen into bed, exhausted from all the walking and had promptly fallen asleep against each other. That wasn't exactly what Mello had in mind while walking home, he had more activity planned, but even he fell asleep after getting out of his clothes and climbing under the covers. He slid out of Matt's grasp and an evil grin covered his face. He slid down underneath the covers, his hands reaching down between Matt's leg's and grasping his flaccid cock. Matt made a noise in his sleep as Mello began to stroke him, which became a groan when his tongue crept out and licked around the tip.

Matt's eyes shot open as his body began to react to what Mello was doing, the feelings reaching his brain and shooting him out of his deep sleep with a start. He looked down to see a big lump under the covers and he would have laughed except that was the moment Mello decided to deep throat him. He practically screamed and grabbed at the sheets on the bed.

Mello laughed around Matt's rapidly growing cock which only made Matt cry out louder, his head slamming back against the pillow, his eyes squeezed shut in pure ecstasy. Mello sucked and licked the way he did his favorite chocolate bar, concentrating more around the tip, dipping his tongue in, delighting in Matt’s noises.

He withdrew long enough to lick two fingers and reached down and slid one around Matt's entrance, rubbing around the ring of tight muscles before slowing plunging it inside. He grinned hearing Matt cry out his name and began pumping his finger in and out in time to how he was sucking him. He then pushed the second finger in, curling them to reach Matt's prostate.

"Mello…I can't…oh god…" Matt cried out and with one last suck from Mello he came, Mello swallowing every drop as Matt's warm essence filled his mouth. When Matt was spent he crawled up his body, popping his head out of the covers, watching Matt trying to gather himself back into a coherent human.

"Good morning!" he called cheerfully and Matt started laughing.

"Damn and all I usually look forward to wake up is coffee and a cigarette…fuck that!" Mello laughed and crawled up to Matt's mouth and kissed him, his tongue forcing his way into the red head's mouth, totally taking it over, beating his tongue back into submission as he explored every part of it. He finally released him and Matt took a deep breath and grinned up at him.

"Now I know you're not done, come on big boy give it to me!" Mello laughed and then growled at him, throwing the covers back off the bed, grabbing Matt and flinging him over onto his stomach, pulling him up onto his knees.

"Tell me how badly you want it, Matt." He growled digging around for the lube.

"How badly do I want you, let me count the ways…" Matt said laughing and wagging his ass at Mello. Mello had found the lube and finished slathering it on his cock and was position at Matt's entrance when his lover decided to waggle his ass at him. He stopped and slapped Matt's ass before grabbing it again and holding him in place. Matt cried out with the slap and then again as Mello pushed himself into him with no hesitation.

"I'm all yours…" Mello whispered slamming into him while holding Matt in place. Matt groaned and moved back against him, meeting his every thrust, enjoying the rough treatment as he always did. Mello reached around and took Matt's cock in his hand, and began pumping him, knowing he wasn't going to last long. They moved together in rhythm, the room filled with the sounds of the cries of lust and ecstasy until Mello felt Matt's muscles tighten around him. He picked up the pace of his thrusts as he stroked him harder until Matt exploded onto his hand and the squeezing of his own cock by Matt's muscles pushed him over the edge as he slammed into him one last time. Mello held onto Matt as he rode out his orgasm, then both of them tumbled down to the bed in exhaustion.

After a few moments, Mello reached out and pulled Matt to him, stroking his hair with one hand while the other made little circles on Matt's chest. The red head looked up and stared into Mello's bright blue eyes.  
"I love you Mello, but if you're trying to start up again you have to wait till my ass heals!" he said with his trademark grin. Mello stopped stroking his chest and looked seriously back at him.

"Did I really hurt you this time? I'm sorry…" he started and Matt shook his head.

"No, I'm just messing with you. You know I love it when you're a beast." He answered then reached up and kissed Mello deeply. Mello relaxed and held Matt against him.

"Plans for the day?" Mello asked.

"We've got some loose ends to tighten up. I saw an interesting case happening in Tokyo. Some dirt bag is taking ears as trophies after he kills his victims. I'm sure L's already on it, but it caught my eye so I thought I'd study up on it and see what L's doing with it when we visit. Other than that I think we can work on getting a flight back to Wammy's."

"What do you think he's gonna think of us wanting to start on our own?" Matt shook his head at Mello's question.

"I don't know. I think part of him is going to really not like it, he looks at us as his heirs more than anything else, and I don't think he's going to want us delving into things that might be dangerous on our own."

"He let us get this far on our own." Mello reminded him.

"Yea, I know and that gives me hope that he's not going to be too upset with this idea. I mean, it's unrealistic that we should just sit around waiting for him to retire or…."Matt suddenly looked away, "or die." Mello stared at him horrified.

"Matt don't say that, Jesus, it makes us sound like vultures!" Mello sat up and reached his bedside table and found a chocolate bar. Matt watched him and knew he had inadvertently upset him with the thought of L's death.

"I'm sorry Mello, I didn't mean to upset you with that, I was just making a point." Mello sighed.

"Yea, I know and it makes sense. I just don't like to think about what would happen if.."

"Then don't. Besides, it'll never happen. He doesn't lend himself to situations that would be dangerous for him very often. I think what will happen is he'll find a nice girl someday and might want to give up being L." Mello snorted.

"L would never give up being L, especially not for some girl." He raised his eyebrows and looked at Matt, "Especially not for some GIRL." He emphasized and started laughing as Matt's eyes grew wide at the implication.

"You mean L is...he's gay? He's like us?" Matt asked incredulous. Mello nodded and snapped a piece of chocolate.

"I think he might even be bi, but remember when I talked to him about us a few years ago he said he wasn't surprised and that it didn't bother him at all so not to worry about it? He also told me that he was of the opinion that he leaned more in this direction as well, although he never really had the opportunity to follow it through, and thought he probably never would, but that he was glad we had been able to."

"You never told me that when you said you talked to him about us! Why didn't you tell me then?" Mello shrugged at the question.

"At the time I didn't think it was my place to mention it, but enough time has passed I don't think he'd mind now. Besides, I had to stop that road you were on, L give up being L for anybody is ridiculous, but especially for a girl." They both laughed then and felt another bond between them and L strengthen.

"Mello…what about Near? Which way do you think he swings?" Matt asked and Mello burst out laughing.

"Neither. He's a fucking eunuch!" he said and both he and Matt broke into laughter.

"Okay," Matt finally said stretching, "Time to get up and get things going. Shower first though." He said getting up and heading for the bathroom. Mello got up as well and started following him into the bathroom.

"Shower, eh? That sounds like fun." He said leering at Matt and started chasing him into the bathroom, with Matt screaming like a girl and covering his ass with his hands. The sight made Mello start laughing so hard that he had to stop running and that gave Matt ample time to run into the bathroom, slam the door and lock it.

"That's okay, I know where you live." Mello said still laughing and he could hear Matt laughing behind the door. Then he heard the sound of the lock and the door opened a crack and he could see green eyes behind the opening.

"Promise to be nice and I'll let you in." came Matt's voice from the crack in the door. Mello sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I promise." He said grinning and Matt opened the door. Mello went to him and grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him deeply, grinding against him as he did so. Matt sighed in the kiss, closing his eyes and his body reacting to the grinding.

"Cut it out Mello, we have to get started." He warned backing away from him.

"That's what I was trying to do." Mello grinned at him and Matt threw a towel at him laughing.

"Yea, no kidding." He said as Mello attacked him again, and he just decided to give up. They weren't in any rush anyway…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

They spent the next few days tying up lose ends, submitting information to the proper authorities so they could end their cases. The thought of a visit home seemed more and more exciting to them as they thought about it, it had been almost three years since they'd moved to New York. Matt was able to get them a flight to England for Friday and that made it even better.

Mello continued to study the Van Gogh murders in Japan. He found the case fascinating, as they seemed to be random in the victims at least so it seemed. He spent most of the day and evening after they wrapped up their cases on the computer, making notes of what he learned. He had Matt hack into the Japanese NPA to see what they had in the way of suspects and found they had precious little.

"Do you think he's working on this case?" Mello asked Matt as he leaned back in the chair, his favorite game beeping in the background. Matt snorted in answer and looked at him.

"Come on Mello, a case like that? You know he's all over that." Mello grinned.

"Maybe we could work on this case together while we're there." He said hopefully and Matt nodded.

"I don't see why not. It'll be good for you, make you humble again when you're up against the master." He said and laughed. Mello smirked at him and turned back to the computer.

Matt watched him for a few moments, enjoying the childish excitement that was on Mello's face as he went over more information. One thing he'd always wanted to do was to work with L as an equal, instead of just a student. He knew Mello wanted to prove to him how well he had learned and that he had his own ways of being able to handle cases as well. That was part of the reason he had wanted to move away on his own, and Matt knew it. Now that he had been able to prove himself in that way, now he wanted to really work with L one on one. It looked like he would get his opportunity.

While Matt slept during most of the flight, Mello continued to work on his laptop with the case. He didn't want L to ask him anything about the case that he couldn't answer. He even knew the names of the lead detectives on the case, one Light Yagami seemed to be in charge, the others Touta Matsuda and Shuichi Aizawa also assigned. He knew what evidence there was, though it was very little, that it was always the same ear from each victim, and that they were all strangled. He studied so hard that he eventually fell asleep, his seat belt the only thing keeping him from falling face first into the laptop on the drop down tray in front of him. Matt woke up at one point to find his partner leaning forward towards the table fast asleep, so he sat him back, turned off the laptop and put the tray back up, putting the laptop between the seats. He then leaned over and kissed Mello's cheek, and fell back asleep himself.

Watari was waiting for them when the got off the plane. They both ran to him, more thrilled to see him than they realized. Watari was quite surprised when both young men were suddenly upon him and he struggled to stay upright.

"It is very good to see both of you as well," he said smiling, "The car is right in front." He reached for their bags but they both refused.

"We've got these, Watari we're big boys now," Mello said pulling out a chocolate bar, "All you have to do is drive." Watari nodded and led them to the familiar black Mercedes…and a very familiar white haired young man leaning against it. He broke into a huge grin when the two emerged from the doors of the airport. Matt reached him first and Mello stuck out a hand to shake Matt's hello. Matt took it and then pulled the surprised albino against him into a hug.

"Asshole, you think I flew all this way after all this time to shake your hand!" Matt said as he hugged him. Near tensed for just a moment and then allowed himself to return the hug. When Matt released him he looked at Mello who looked uncertain for a moment and then he too gave Near a hug, although not quite as long as Matt did.

"It is good to see you, Near." He said once he let go and Near smiled gratefully.

"It is good to see you, too." He said happily, seeing in Mello's eyes that he did mean it. Watari had opened the door for them as they were greeting each other, and walked around the car to get into the driver's seat. Mello crawled in first and sat down, only to yell and jump up pulling something out from behind him. He growled when he saw what it was.

"Geez Near, this damned robot almost went up my ass!" he yelled tossing it at Near. Matt fell in the car laughing and Near couldn't hide his giggle either, once he realized his robot was unharmed. No one saw the very amused smirk on Watari's face as he put the car into gear and pulled out into traffic; the boys were most definitely back.

L wouldn't admit to himself how excited he was knowing the boys were on their way back, yet he couldn't stay away from the main window in his office that opened to front yard and the driveway. He released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding when he saw the car pull into the driveway and stop. Then he watched as Matt, Near and then Mello got out of the back and a huge smile adorned his face. He hadn't even realized until now just how much he had missed having them around. They were his boys, his family as much as they were his heirs, and he had definitely missed them.

It was only a few moments before the door blew open as it used to when they were kids and wanted to see him, but these were no kids that came into his apartment now. They were now young men, whom he hadn't seen in three years. He could see subtle changes in them as they came through the door, and for just a few moments they merely stood across the room from each other and just took each other in. Mello started walking towards him at the same time L started walking towards them. Then the walk turned into a full out run and Mello was suddenly on him. He held the blonde against him for a few moments until Mello pulled away, a big grin on his face.

"Hey, L." he said and stared into those bottomless black eyes that now looked at him quizzically.

"Interesting way to say hello, Mello. But I've learned to expect the unusual from you." He looked up at Matt who he held out one arm to, and Matt came flying into it, hugging him just as hard as Mello, who had stepped out of the way.

"Hello, L! Is that better?" Matt asked when he pulled away and L chuckled. Watari came in and picked up their bags.

"Your bags will be in your old room." He said and took them out before they could protest. They both finally stepped away from L and he walked over to the couch, grabbing a lollipop from one of his candy bowls as he folded himself on it. Near walked over to his desk beyond L's and sat down, as he felt this would be Matt and Mello's time with L. They both then suddenly noticed the extension to L's apartment and the setup that Near sat in front of.

"WOW near that is some sweet set-up." Mello said walking over to him and looking around.

"Yes, it is very functional. L and I are far enough apart where we don't get in each other's way, and yet we're close enough so that if we need to bounce information we can do so without having to call each other or walk from room to room." Mello nodded and looked at all the screens and equipment. They had similar in their New York apartment, but this was different, it was with L. He smiled at Near and leaned closer to him.

"It must be just a bit intimidating though, once in a while. He can see your every move."

"Indeed. It keeps me on my toes at all times, can't ever let down my guard. I never know when he's watching."

"Still, it must be awesome, kind of gratifying to be working along side him like this." Mello said almost wistfully and then grinned remembering the case. He turned and went back to L as Matt continued to peruse Near's space. He sat down next to L just as Watari came in bearing gifts of snacks and drinks. He placed a cup of hot chocolate in front of Mello, complete with whipped cream and a cherry while refreshing L's coffee. L looked at the hot chocolate and then looked up at Watari, his eyes bigger than usual. Watari smiled and nodded, leaving the room to return a few moments later with another mug of hot chocolate and sat it in front of L, his having three cherries on top. L smiled his thanks at Watari and picked up the steaming mug, picking the cherries off first to savor. Mello took a tentative swallow of the hot liquid and decided this would be the best time to bring up the case.

"L…I know you're probably working on the Van Gogh case. I've been studying recently and I thought it would be great if I could talk with you over some of the aspects of the case." L nodded.

"Yes, an extremely interesting case," He said popping the second cherry into his mouth, "It is primarily Near's case, however. I'm giving him my input, ofcourse, but he's been doing most of the investigative work." Mello's hopeful face expression fell into one of surprise and disappointment.

"It's NEAR's case? Not yours?" L looked over at Mello, not understanding why he suddenly looked so upset.

"Yes, mostly. I'm working on it as well, we're doing it as a bit of collaboration, although he's got the lead on it. Why..do you see it as a problem?" he asked.

Matt knew immediately what the problem was and knew he had to get to Mello to see if he could stem the explosion he could feel was happening inside of Mello. Mello stood up, staring at Near and then at L. He tried to stem the anger and disappointment that was rising in him, but he couldn't. He had worked so hard at knowing this case, hoping that he could impress L with his knowledge of what was happening, to sit with L and perhaps work with him on it. But no, it was Near's case, Near was already working on it with L, ofcourse he was. L knew Mello well enough to know that something was about to happen, but he was still completely confused as to why.

"I studied that case for days, L. I've learned everything I possibly could so that I would be ready for any question you might ask me about it I thought we could…that I could…but no, as usual Near is ahead of me in even this! I fucking HATE you, Near!" he finally shouted and stormed out of the door, slamming it behind him. Matt had tried to hold him but had failed and could only stare after him as he ran out of the door. Matt turned to Near and went back to the completely surprised young man.

"He doesn't mean it Near, he's just upset, you know Mello. I'm sorry he said it."

"I don't understand..what did I do?" Near asked him wide eyed.

"Nothing, you're just here. Mello had thought he could work with L on this case, he didn't stop to consider that if L was working on it, you would be too. Don't worry, it will blow over." He then walked to L who had stood up, his hands in his pockets staring at the door.

"L, I'm so sorry, I'll talk to Mello.." L turned to look at him and he stopped talking, that look in his L's eyes not something he was going to challenge.

"First of all Matt, you need to stop apologizing for Mello. As long as you do that, he will continue to behave in this manner without thinking of the consequences. He needs to take responsibility for his actions. Secondly, I will talk to Mello." Matt watched the darkness deepen in L's eyes and was damn glad he wasn't Mello.

"Okay, but L…" he reached out and grabbed L's arm. L turned to look at him, that look trained on him and he backed up a few steps.

"I…I just wanted to say that it's because he loves you that he..he's so upset, L. He's always wanted to work one on one with you. He wants to show you what he's learned. Please…please remember that while you're tearing him a new one, okay?" L's eyes softened for a moment and he smiled.

"Okay." He said and followed Mello out of the door.

Mello screamed at the top of his lungs the minute he ran into the room and slammed the door behind him. He picked up the bags on the bed and threw them to the floor, kicking them across the room. All that studying, all that work to make sure he was ready for L and fucking Near is running it. He heard the door behind him open and figuring it was Matt he didn't turn around.

"Don't say a goddamn thing to me! You know how hard I worked on this, it's not fucking fair!'

"Neither is it fair to blame Near for something he had no idea of."

Mello turned around, terrified of the voice he just heard, and stared into the very angry, frightening eyes of L. He backed up against the bed as L walked towards him, his hands in his pockets, eyes boring into Mello's.

"Nor is it fair that you turn a very pleasant reunion into a selfish, childish tirade in my home." Mello stopped backing up and tried to plead his case.

"You don't understand, L I worked, I studied this case! I…"

"Didn't stop to think of all the possibilities. You knew I would be working on this case because it was the type of case I enjoy. You also knew that Near was here working with me. Why would you not suppose that we would be working on this case together? It is true that there are some cases I work on alone, but there are others we share. This should have been a consideration before you put all of your interests in working with me."

Mello stared back at L, ready to argue back but realizing he was right. He knew Near was here, he worked with Near through the computer on cases that he and L were working on as well, he should taken that into consideration when he was planning, he really should have.

"But this is not the real reason behind this upset, is it?" L said finally coming to him, "There is a deeper, underlying reason which has been at the root of most of your upsets with Near, and this is no exception."

"I don't know what you mean…" he recoiled as L's eyes flared even hotter at him.

"Do not pretend ignorance at this. Since you were a child you have always felt you were in extreme competition with Near, always trying to best him, you always felt you were second to him in everything. While that may be been true in test scores and attendance records, it is not true in everything." Mello looked away from him and sat on the bed he was backed into.

"You can't tell me that Near isn't number one in your book as well, as an heir, as a partner.."

"L does not have a partner, you know that. Near is working with me because he needs to learn just as you and Matt do. You decided to leave and go elsewhere, you could have remained here and been at my side, but you chose not to. I do not blame you for wanting to try being on your own; I am proud that you took that chance and have done so well at it. Do not blame Near because he chose to remain here. While it is true that Near is first in line, it is simply because his scores were higher and mostly because his temperament is better suited than yours. Something that you have just proven again."

Mello looked up at him at that, his own eyes flaring in protest, but he knew L was right. He had acted like a child yet again, and even worse, directly in front of L. He looked down again, unable to face L's stare any longer. L had never raised his voice, his voice had remained the same, even if a bit more strident, but he never raised it. This made it much worse, when he had every right to yell at him. He felt warm tears run down his face as everything L said hit home. He heard L sigh and he looked up to see him run his hands through his unruly hair; that meant he was about to say something he wasn't completely comfortable saying. He prepared himself for the worst; perhaps this time he had pushed L too far.

"But there is one thing you must remember, there is no second in the way I feel about you and the others. Each one of you hold an equal place, you are all my family, I care deeply for each one of you, which means I care a great deal for you, Mello. Please do not forget that. I have to do what I feel is correct in being L; I cannot favor one for the other in this. I have to go by the numbers, what's in front of me." Mello nodded and stood up and faced L again.

"I'm so sorry, I really am. I didn't mean to behave so childishly, I didn't think, I just…"

"Acted emotionally. This is something you must work on, but I have faith you will be able to conquer it. Now, let us go back and put this behind us. You must apologize to Near, however.' Mello nodded and looked back at L, and was glad to see his eyes had softened, and there was the hint of a smile on his face. He stepped closer and put his arms around the man he loved as a father, and was glad to feel his hug returned. He pulled away and looked at him and could see the affection reflected in those eyes. He took a deep breath and stepped away.

"Alright, I am ready to go back and apologize to Near, and Matt. I'm sure I put him in an awkward position too." L nodded and smiled.

"Very good, a step forward already." He said and headed for the door, Mello directly behind him.

When they arrived, Matt was with Near at his desk, obviously checking out his equipment. Mello immediately went to Near, Matt getting out of the way and walking back towards L. Near looked up at Mello, not sure what he was going to hear next.

"Near, I need to apologize for what I just did. I'm really sorry, I wasn't thinking I was just being ridiculous. Ofcourse you would be working on that case, it just makes so much sense. Can we forget it and pretend it didn't happen?" Near smiled and nodded, his ever-present robot forgotten for a moment.

"Yes, that would be the best way. But, Mello…would you mind if we got together on this case? I would be greatly interested on what you've come up with." Mello blinked a couple of times and then grinned.

"Absolutely, Near! Let me get my notes!" he said excitedly and then ran back out of the door to their room to get them out of his bag. Matt and L looked at each other, a smiled on both of their faces.

"It seems all of his study will be justified after all." L stated as Mello flew back into the room and grabbed a chair to sit next to near. He turned back to Matt for a moment.

"Matt, I'm sorry I screwed up again and put you in a bad position." He called back smiling and turned back to Near.

"Yes, our little boy is growing up." Matt said and L couldn't help laughing.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Matt enjoyed watching Mello so deeply involved in a case with Near, it meant he had been right all along, they could work together as long as Mello forgot the competition aspect of their relationship. Not to mention he reaped the benefits at night as a thoroughly happy and relaxed Mello was also an insatiable, horny Mello.

At the moment they were sitting in the back of the building, leaning against a tree and watching the kids who were outside running around, screaming and laughing. Matt took a long drag on his cigarette and laughed as a couple of the over enthusiastic boys ran into each other, knocking the wind out of each other and hitting the ground.

"Wow, that was special." He said continuing to laugh and Mello joined him.

"We were never that stupid." He commented and Matt responded by blowing smoke into his face.

"WE weren't, YOU were. You don't remember the trees you ran into because you were so busy looking behind you to notice them in front of you? Or the grass you ate because you were always hitting the ground because your feet couldn't keep up with you?" Mello frowned at the smoke and pushed Matt away from him.

"At least I was up and moving most of the time. Getting you to drop that and get up and play was next to impossible!" he retorted, pointing at Matt's game. Matt shrugged, completely unfazed by the accusation.

"Yea, well I missed out on all the stitches you got too, wow, sorry I missed that." Mello reached over and pushed Matt to the ground and then straddled him, holding him down.

"Are you trying to piss me off? I think all those things contributed to what I am now, right?" Matt looked up into Mello's face, smiling at the smirk that he found there and carefully moved his legs to quickly draw them back and push Mello off of him with his feet. Mello flew backwards, landed on his back and Matt got up and sat on Mello's legs and laughed.

"You're right, you're my hero and it's all due to you running into trees when you were a kid!" Mello sat up and grabbed Matt, bringing him down so they were face to face. Then he leant up and kissed him.

"You're such a pain in my ass." He told him when he pulled his mouth away and smiled.

"I love you too." He said and leant down to kiss Mello again when the sound of someone clearing his throat made him stop and look up. They both gasped and scrambled to get to their feet once they realized L was standing there staring at them.

"I do not believe such open displays of affection are proper in the presence of the children." He said simply and both Matt and Mello nodded.

"Sorry, we kind of forgot the kids were over there." Matt said and L's expression softened.

"I am quite sure they won't have nightmares over it, but I think it would be best if that wasn't a normal occurrence. You understand it is not that I don't approve, I don't approve of anyone making out in front of the students." They nodded again and then L smiled.

"Have you two had lunch, or were you too…busy to be hungry?" Mello nervously reached for a candy bar as Matt laughed.

"No we haven't had lunch yet, L. We actually were watching the kids for a long time, we just kinda forgot about lunch." L nodded and began to walk towards the building, hands in his pockets and a small smile on his face.

"Then come join me, Watari has brought some things I think you would enjoy." He said and they both fell into step behind him.

Upon arriving at L's apartment the first thing they noticed was the table was set and there was food all around the table. The second thing they noticed was that Near wasn't there.

"Isn't Near going to eat with us?" Mello asked as he sat down. L shook his head.

"Near was here until the very early hours of this morning, a long time after you left. I made him go down and get some rest; he ate something before he went." Mello smirked.

"He really is like you, isn't he?" L stopped in the middle of picking up his fork and thought for a moment.

"In some things that is unfortunate, I suppose. It is only because he holds respect for me that I was able to make him go to bed. I am sure I defied Watari's requests for this kind of things many times in my lifetime, and it wasn't that I don't respect him, but just because I am far too stubborn." He then continued to grab a piece of melon with his fork in his style. Matt elbowed Mello as he watched L use the fork with just his forefinger and thumb and deftly get a piece of his melon to his mouth. They both giggled quietly, until L lifted his eyes and stared at them, making them both nearly choke on their food.

"Am I doing something amusing that I am not aware of?" he asked, and they hastily shook their heads.

"No..no L it's just..something we've always loved watching you do since we were kids." Matt explained, "The way you hold your fork..we always thought it was so cool and we haven't seen it in a while…that's all." L's head tilted to one side as he listened and then looked down at his fork and then back at them.

"I see. Cool?" he asked and they both broke up laughing.

"Yes, so cool L. No one else in the world eats like that!" Mello said and L nodded.

"Ofcourse not, no one else is L." he said quite seriously and they were off and laughing again. L smiled at them and continued to eat, thoroughly enjoying having his boys again.

Near walked back in a couple of hours later s to find Mello sitting at his desk going over some new information. He sat down next to Mello in the extra chair and surveyed the screens around Mello's head.

"There hasn't been another victim, which is off from what the killer's pattern has been." Mello told him and Near nodded looking at a feed from Japan.

"It appears the NPA is a bit confused as well; it must be a first for Detective Yagami." He said.

"I am sure Detective Yagami will not have a problem with this for very long; we are working together on several avenues." L said as he stood up from his desk. "If you would excuse me, Roger has requested I come down to a meeting with he and Watari, despite the fact that I have more important things to attend to. I shouldn't be long." He said as he walked towards the door and then out.

"Ofcourse he's going to defend Yagami, I think he has a soft spot for him." Near said after L had left. Matt looked up from his game and grinned.

"Really? Who is this Detective Yagami?" Near beckoned him over to where he was and hit a few buttons on the keyboard. A picture and service record of one Light Yagami appeared on the screens; Mello whistled.

"Way cute!" he said and then ducked as Matt swung at him, "Well he is, I can't help but tell the truth!" he said. Matt looked up at the pictures and had to agree. Staring back at him was a very attractive young man with amber eyes and auburn hair; his hair and suit impeccable.

"Not only is he attractive he's near genius in his intellect; rivaling L's IQ actually," Near added, "He practically walked through school, securing a top spot in To oh University and graduating with every honor imaginable. Then on to the NPA, where by the way, his father is a high ranking Chief of Police where he just practically walked into whatever he wanted his scores were so high."

"L would be crazy not to be attracted to this guy, there's no wrong here." Matt said reading Yagami's service record.

"I believe the attraction is mutual," Near continued, "I have noticed that L had given him the right to call in on the line that is used exclusively by his contacts. They have conversations that don't always include the case. L has worked with him several times before, and he is the only one L will work with when something comes up in Japan, and that is very unlike L. As long as they can understand him, L generally doesn't pick and choose who he communicates with, but when it comes to Japan, it's only Light Yagami."

They all looked at each other and burst out laughing. This was too awesome to be true; their L had a crush on someone? And apparently the feelings were reciprocated.

"Oh we have to get these two together!" Mello said and then looked at Near, "What are the chances we could get L to want to go to Japan and work on this on location? I know he does it on certain cases, couldn't this be one?"

"Not to burst a bubble, Mello but what if we do get to Japan? L doesn't meet anyone personally, it's too dangerous. And if they do manage to meet, then what? This is L we're talking about, how can he possibly have a relationship with anyone? He lives and works here, Yagami is in Japan. It can't really amount to much if they're this far apart!" Near told them. Mello sighed and smacked Near in the back of his head.

"For Christ's sakes stop sinking the ship before it even leaves the fucking dock!" he said to him and Matt laughed.

"There are a couple of valid points there, Near but if it's going to work out they'll figure out a way. But we owe it to L to push him into this somehow. If there's a chance he can find someone to make him happy, we have to try and help him find it." Near nodded but still looked uncertain, in fact he looked truly unhappy with it. His fingers twirling furiously in his hair, as his other hand clutched his robot. Matt and Mello looked at him and then each other and began to understand.

"Near, he's not going to love you any less if he finds someone. As close as you are to him, there' definitely a couple of things you can't provide for him!" Mello said winking and a blush rose to Near's cheeks as he realized what he meant.

"You're disgusting, Mello!" he said and pushed him away as the blonde laughed at his embarrassment, reaching for his chocolate.

"C'mon now, this could be great for us. Maybe he'll be less quick to turn those eyes on us if he gets some relief, you know?" Mello continued laughing and Matt joined in. Near, however, failed to appreciate the joke.

"Is that all you guys think about? You think sex is going to fix everything?" he asked them, angry that his own emotions were showing.

"C'mon if you'd ever had it you'd know it's good for practically anything that ails you!" Mello said with a big grin and then immediately regretted it when Near looked at him as if he'd been punched.

"Why are you so sure I haven't? Am I that abhorrent?" he asked and Mello quickly backed pedaled.

"No, Near it's not like that. But for the same reasons that L hasn't, you're so wrapped up in your work you don't socialize. How can you meet someone if you stay in this corner all the time? Have you even looked at some of the girls that are here? The senior class has some awesome looking ladies, why don't you introduce yourself to a couple? Unless ofcourse you swing our way.." Near shook his head violently.

"No, I don't swing your or L's way, and how can I possibly talk to any of the girls here? They're about to graduate, they'll move away, what's the point of that?"

"There you go again blowing up the damn ship, you don't know what the situation can hold for you unless you try, Near!"

"I know you're thinking of the future, if you should become L for any reason you think it would effectively end any relationship. That's not true you know. Just because L stayed single doesn't mean it has to be that way. You'd have to find a special person who would understand, but it could be done. Don't close yourself off because you feel you're destined to be L." Matt added, putting his hand on the white haired boy's shoulder.

Near looked at them both and realized that they had managed to voice all of his fears about his emotional life in just a few minutes. How had they done that? Oh, yes they were genii as well, weren't they? He smiled at them both and nodded.

"I'll think about it, okay?" he said finally and they other two smiled back at him and nodded.

"That's more than we had when we started this conversation," Matt said and ruffled Near's hair as Near drew back in horror.

"Now, what are we gonna do about L's little problem, eh?" Mello asked and they all put their brains in gear to figure a way to get their mentor and Light Yagami together.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My deepest apologies for not posting anything for so very long. The past year has been quite difficult between major surgery, healing from that surgery which has taken a lot longer than expected, and the unexpected, sudden death of my brother. It has taken me this long to be able to regroup my thoughts and be able to think and concentrate. Thank you so very much for hanging in there, I promise to catch up and finish all my works ASAP!! I love you, readers!!
> 
> Dotti

Chapter 5

Matt awoke the next morning very early, before sunrise. He wasn't sure why he suddenly woke that early, he just did. He got out of bed without waking Mello, pulled on his pants, grabbed his cigarettes and went outside in the back.

He always appreciated the beauty of Whammy's. After you got past the fence and the driveway, there were trees and what seemed like endless land. The grass and bushes were always perfectly kept, the trees lush and many perfect for climbing. There were gardens of flowers in the front and back, and some that even bore vegetables and herbs; and what seemed like an endless play area.

There was an area behind the mansion that was all trees that hid a small brook that you couldn't see until you were almost on it. He could remember hot days when he and Mello and Near would sneak down there at night and go swimming; and the times L would join them and it would turn into more fun than they thought possible. If you had to be an orphan, this was the place to be.

He also remembered that the amount of fun they had was in direct correlation with how hard they had to work. The teachers were tough on them, but L was even tougher, expecting nothing less than what he felt was their best and what they were capable of. But no matter how hard he was on them¸ he didn't push them beyond endurance and there was always just as much affection and non-work related attention.

They had known early on that being affectionate with them was very difficult for him, it was awkward for him at first, and there were still times he seemed unsure. Matt remembered the first time L reached out to touch him, to pat his head – it was almost comical how stiff L was, but at least he tried.

He took a long drag on his cigarette as he watched the sun begin to rise over the treetops, the birds greeting it with more noise than his un-caffinated head wanted to hear. He looked up at the mansion and suddenly saw L standing in his private balcony that oversaw the entire property. He waved and L acknowledged it; then gestured towards his coffee cup. Matt took that as an invitation for coffee and he practically ran back into the mansion and up to L's private suites.

He knocked lightly and came into the apartment, zeroing in on the aroma of fresh coffee and going to the pot sitting on the table. There were several cups; obviously Watari knew they would be up there eventually. He made himself a cup and then took it with him as he made his way out to the balcony. L turned with a smile as Matt joined him then turned back to look at the horizon.

"I am surprised you are awake so early." He said to the redhead, standing at the railing, rather than sitting in one of the two chairs that were out there along with a small table.

"So am I. It just happened. But you can't beat the view." Matt answered sipping at the excellent coffee. L nodded.

"I find it peaceful and soothing to me lately," L answered still watching the sky, it helps me keep things in perspective." Matt got closer as he heard more behind those words than the words themselves. He looked at L's face and saw what he expected to see – nothing. The large dark eyes stared forward into the horizon; the brilliant colors of the sunrise reflected there, nothing else.

"L, is something wrong?" he ventured, putting his coffee on the table as he pulled out another cigarette. L turned slightly to stare at Matt, then looked away again.

"There is nothing wrong. I am…concerned over new revelations about myself and am at somewhat at a loss of how to address them." He turned fully and gazed at Matt for a moment, Matt feeling as if he were being x-rayed for a few moments, but he had gotten used to L's gazes.

"How is your relationship with Mello working?" he asked suddenly. Matt blew smoke away from L and tried not to show how surprised he was by the sudden question.

"We're doing fine. Mello is definitely not easy and as you pointed out I do tend to enable his behavior, but we're happy. Why do you ask?" L listened, his head tilted to one side as he did.

"Does your relationship interfere with your work? I have discerned no difference, but I wonder if it requires more concentration to work with someone you are in a relationship with."

Matt was confused with this line of conversation. L had never spoken of their relationship before, and he couldn't imagine where this was leading. Then a small idea began to work its way through and he tried not to smile.

"To be honest, it's natural for us. But we've known each other for so long that we already know each other's habits, how we work. It really isn't a problem. I have to admit to some…distractions but a quick punch in the head usually works." L looked slightly alarmed at that and Matt laughed.

"I'm kidding, well maybe not completely, but the reality is, it works for us. Is there…a reason for this line of questioning L?"

"I never do anything without a reason, I'm sure you know this." He watched, as it appeared L was struggling with what he wanted to say next.

"So, are you thinking about going to Japan on this case? I'm surprised you haven't actually, there's so much going on with it." He actually saw the change in L's eyes when he changed the direction of the conversation, he actually looked grateful. He obviously wasn't ready quite yet to say everything that was on his mind, but he had made it clear to Matt what the subject matter really was.

"That eventuality has crossed my mind for several reasons. I usually send Watari to do the hands on part of it for me, but this time I think I need to get involved myself."

"Well, be prepared for the rest of us to tag along, especially Mello since he's been working so hard on this case." L nodded and then thought for a moment.

"I would assume Near would prefer to stay, he's even more reticent to any kind of change than I am, but of course I will offer him the choice." Matt tried not to smirk when he asked the next question.

"Are you planning on meeting that detective you mentioned last night, what was it…Bright Yagami.?" L's eyes narrowed for a moment and Matt almost forgot to blow out the smoke he had inhaled.

"It is Light Yagami, which I am sure you know perfectly well and I meet no one."

"Well, I know you haven't before and for good reason, but, if you don't mind me saying so, it seems you like working with this guy, so maybe you could find a way." L was quiet for a moment and then he turned to Matt with more emotion in his face than Matt could ever remember seeing.

"I find that I am attracted to Detective Yagami's intellect and style in a way I have not ever been before with anyone else and I am not quite sure how to handle the situation."

Matt snorted.

"Oh yea, and the fact he's pretty hot didn't go past you either I'm sure." He saw L's pale skin color slightly and he tried not to giggle.

"Be that as it may, I am…uncomfortable with speaking about this, I am uncomfortable thinking about this, and yet it stays forefront in my mind."

"L, there is nothing wrong with being attracted to someone, even the great L is human first. But you have to decide what you want to do about it. Let's go to Japan and once we're there you can decided exactly what you want to do."

"I may be human, Matt but my lifestyle has not allowed me to think about anything so trivial as attraction to anyone. I am not even sure such a thing is possible. I have never felt the desire to even try before." Matt moved closer to L and placed a hand on his arm.

"Listen, you can't go by me and Mello because we've been together most of our lives, so trying to decide to meet someone you're attracted to would be unnerving for anyone, and for you there's all this extra baggage. I would think the best way is one little step at a time, L. We'll go to Japan, keep the dialogue up between you guys and see from there. Between all of us we have to figure something out!" L stuck his hands in his pockets and sighed, but a small smile did find it's way on his face.

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable having such a discussion spread out amongst the three of you, but I have no other options. Nor do I trust anyone else with such information." He turned and headed back inside and then stopped for a moment.

"Matt, I appreciate your giving me your thoughts in this matter." He said without turning around and continued into the apartment. Matt didn't think he'd ever wipe the grin off of his face that was on there right now. L had just thanked him for talking to him, he could step in a pile of dog poo barefoot and it wouldn't wipe the smile off of his face. He had to go wake up Mello.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Matt was fairly bouncing down the hall to get to his and Mello's room. He ran in and jumped on the bed.

"Mello! Mello, wake up! You won't believe what just happened!"he said shaking the lump under the covers. Then a very loud growl emanated from the lump making Matt stop and back up. His eyes went to the clock and he realized it was barely seven a.m. Mello was never up this early and obviously he had no intention of it today. Mello didn't do anything else, obviously assuming the growl was warning enough.

"No, come on you need to wake up! We have to talk!" Matt insisted and pulled the blankets away from Mello, revealing a very naked and very angered Mello.

"What the fuck, Matt? The house better be on fire or I'm kicking your ass!" he warned rubbing his eyes.

"No, the house isn't on fire but it's about L…" Mello's eye cleared immediately and he stared at Matt.

"What about L? Did something happen to L?' he yelled jumping out of bed and Matt laughed.

"No, you idiot L's fine. But we talked this morning about his fascination with that detective guy in Japan. It's serious Mello, we really have to do something to help him meet this guy."

"You woke me up and scared the crap out of me for that? Christ, Matt…" Mello groaned and sat back on the bed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you but this is really important to him and he doesn't have the first idea of what to do. He wants to go to Japan and take us with him to not only work on the case but work on getting to know this detective. You know how difficult this is going to be with him being who he is." Mello sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He got up and groped around for a candy bar and upon finding one got back on the bed and leaned against the headboard.

"So, we're going to Japan. Sweet." He said taking a bite.

"Yes, but don't miss the big picture here, Mells."

"Yea, I know. The reality of the situation is L is L which will make it a bitch to get this done. Also this case is stuck at the moment and that's not going to help things. I need coffee." Mello finished his candy bar and got off the bed.

"You need clothes first. Not that I'm complaining about the view." Matt said laughing and Mello turned to him.

"Be glad my need for coffee is stronger than my need to make you pay me for waking me up this early, you owe me." He said heading for the shower which made Matt laugh again as he reached for his game to wait.

"Yea, yea..whatever…" he said and dropped his game as Mello suddenly was on him, his hand gripping the back of his neck, holding him steady as the blonde brutally kissed him, his tongue forcing his way into Matt's mouth not giving him a chance to catch his breath. Just as Matt thought he might pass out from lack of air, Mello released him and pushed him back on the bed. Mello smiled down at him as he gasped for air.

"That's just a taste of what you're in for, Matty." He said and walked away into the shower. Matt continued to catch his breath and then sat up. He reached up and touched his lips as they now felt numb and then grinned. He was looking forward to when he had to finish paying up.

As Mello walked out of the shower drying his hair there was a knock on the door. He walked over to the door as he was going by it and opened to reveal Near, who's eyes widened when he realized Mello was answering the door naked.

"Is it customary for you to answer the door in that condition?" he asked as he walked into the room.

"When someone knocks after I get out of the shower, yea." Mello answered continuing to dry his hair.

"Good morning, Matt. I wonder if we could talk a few moments before we start our day?" Near asked.

"Not unless you brought some coffee with you." Mello answered and Matt laughed.

"Look, I'll go get some coffee otherwise he's not going to be civil. Go ahead and start I'll be right back." He said and went out of the room.

"What's up, Near?" Mello asked as he started to get dressed. Near sat on the edge of the bed, one hand reaching up and twirling a strand of hair.

"About that situation we talked about last night…"

"You mean L and his detective?"

"Yes. Do you really think this is a good idea…to try and get them together?"

"Better question, why DON'T you think it's a good idea?"

"I have several reasons to be against this, but the first reason is L himself. I am not sure he would really want this meeting to happen."

Mello had finished getting dressed and was digging for another candy bar.

"I don't see why not, he seems to be truly interested in this guy. And just this morning he talked to Matt about it…"

"He did? This morning?" Near asked just as Matt came back in with a tray with three coffee cups, a pot of coffee and cream and sugar.

"I ran into Watari on his way to L's room and got these," he said putting the tray on the table, "Now what did I miss?" he asked fixing a coffee for Mello and handing it to him.

"Near's not sure about our playing matchmaker," Mello said taking the coffee, "I was about to tell him about your conversation with L this morning, but now you can do that."

"L talked to you about this?" Near asked him and Matt nodded as he took a sip.

"He didn't come out and say he wanted to meet this guy, but he did let me know that he was very interested in him. Enough to want to go to Japan and work hands on with this case and perhaps get to meet him." Near looked down for a few moments and then looked up as Matt handed him a coffee.

"My personal feeling aside, my worries are more for L and his safety. If this meeting were to happen, how would it be done?" Matt and Mello looked at each other, and then back at Near.

"I would imagine whatever L wanted to do, and whatever it was we'd be there as back up." Mello said.

"We could have him come to the hotel…"

"And jeopardize L's safety in anonymity and no one knowing where he was." Near added.

"Well we wouldn't just give him the address and room number, that would be ridiculously stupid!" Matt said.

"We'd go pick him up, blindfold him once he was in the car and not take the blindfold off until he was inside the room." Mello suggested and Near nodded.

"That isn't a bad idea. But there's one thing we have to remember. Once he has seen L, it can't be unseen. If something were to happen, if this meeting or the ensuing relationship, if it did happen, were to go awry, he would still know who L was, what he looked like. How can we be sure that he's not the type of person who would turn vindictive and use it against L somehow?" Mello stared at him and dropped down on the bed next to him.

"Fuck me, Near you would think of something like that." He said. Matt pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"He's right though, Mello that's something we have to consider. Something L has to consider as well. Near, why don't you get on your system down there and find out everything, absolutely everything you can on this Light Yagami. I can do it with my laptop but your system would make it a lot easier and you can hack into other systems a lot easier than I could. If you find anything at all that's questionable, we'll look it over and discuss it with L before any type of meeting takes place. Does that sound agreeable?" Near thought for a moment and nodded.

"Yes, that is agreeable. I don't believe L needs to be appraised of what we're doing." Matt choked on his smoke

"Oh God, no. This has to be between us only, L wouldn't appreciate this at all!"

"As I don't believe I will be going with you to Japan, I can continue to monitor everything from here.

"L thought you might not want to go with us," Matt stated, "Although I can't believe you're passing up going to Japan." Near stood up and smiled.

"I am quite happy with where I am and have no desire to travel elsewhere unless absolutely necessary." He said and placed his coffee on the tray. He looked at both Matt and Mello and smiled.

"I have to admit that this has been quite pleasant, working with you, Mello. I wish it could continue." Mello smiled back at him.

"Yea, it has worked out better than I would have thought. You know you could come back to New York with me and Matt…" Near quickly shook his head.

"No, as I have said, I like being here and doing what I am. But I can continue to help you as I do L on occasion." Both of them nodded their answer.

"Yea, we can work with that." Matt answered and for a moment the three just looked at each other, no other words necessary.

"It's time for me to join L, I'll see you two later." Near said and left their room. Matt and Mello looked at each other, one snapped a chocolate bar, the other finished a cigarette.

"We've got our work cut out for us don't we?" Matt asked and Mello chuckled.

"Oh yea. And we haven't even discussed having our own agency yet." Mello answered and they both laughed.

"Later!" they said at the same time and laughed again.

"Come on let's get to L's. I'm hungry and I know he's got something to eat." Mello said and Matt nodded in agreement, as they both headed out of the door.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

L listened as Matt and Mello had decided to pitch their idea of a separate agency to allow Near time to gather his information on Light Yagami. When they finished talking L was quiet, his face unreadable. He had one hand on a drawn-up knee and the other holding a large lollipop in his mouth. He seemed to be apprising all they had said carefully, his gaze beyond them as he did so. Finally, his eyes shifted back to their faces and he removed the lollipop from his mouth and took a deep breath. He knew what he had to say, and he knew it would not be welcomed.

"You have presented a nearly flawless argument for your cause," he began, "But I have several reservations which preclude me from allowing such a venture." Mello and Matt looked at each other and then back at L, they hadn't expected to be turned down.

"Why not? Haven't we proven ourselves to you yet, what else do we have to do?" Matt put a warning hand on Mello's knee as Mello spoke.

"Indeed, you have in many ways. I have been quite pleased with your progress so far, but it is just that, progress towards the eventual goal I have set for you, you have not yet reached it." Mello stared back at L, his confusion and disappointment almost palpable.

"This goal, L are we at least close?" Matt ventured, and L nodded as he stood up.

"Yes, I believe so. I will let you know when I feel you have reached it, I'm certain it will not take that long. At that time, we will revisit your request." He began to walk towards his desk when Mello stood and stormed over to him, grabbing L's arm.

"Are you going to at least give us a damned clue as to what this mystical goal is or what we have to do to reach it to your satisfaction? Or are you just going to leave us wondering?" L slowly turned to Mello, his eyes moving down to where Mello had grabbed him and back to his heir's face. Mello released his hold, recognizing the last time he had seen that look in L's eyes he had nearly found himself at the business end of L’s foot.

"I will give you, insight on one item, Mello. When you can deal with personal issues that disappoint and anger you in an intellectual basis instead of an emotional one you may bring the subject up again."

"This has nothing to do with how I handle cases, L, I separate my personal issues from work issues. We're pretty much doing it on our own anyway right now!" Mello argued.

"You may think you separate the issues, but I assure you this is not the case. Also, everything you do in New York is under my supervision, I know every move you make and allow or disallow each of those moves. You have yet to deal with a heinous case that will affect you emotionally, and if you do not learn how to handle these emotions on a day-to-day basis, cases like that will destroy you or lead you to make unsound decisions. As of now I have no proof that I can trust you to not react emotionally at a time it is imperative that you do not. I am not saying that you cannot feel, but you need to control it, Mello. You have only to remember your upset the evening you arrived to understand what I mean. The other reservations I have are minor."

Mello sighed deeply and looked away from L. He had to admit he did have difficulty in that area, he almost proved it again just now. He was holding them back and he had to do something about it. Matt stood up and walked over to where Mello was still standing as L continued to his desk and sat down. He put a hand on Mello's shoulder and smiled at him.

"Hey, we're going to Japan, what a great place to practice!" he said, and Mello had to smile at that.

"When are we leaving, L?" he asked next and L's thumb went to his mouth.

"As soon as Watari gets it set up, so we should be flying out within 24 hours."

"Hell, yea the L jet!" Matt said and he and Mello high fived each other as L looked on with a small smile.

"Near, there is still time to change your mind, it is your case", he offered to the white-haired boy in the corner who shook his head.

"Thank you, L but I still prefer to stay here and provide backup. Don't worry L, I have faith in you." Matt and Mello started laughing at Near's rare display of humor and L stared at Near, his eyes widened in surprise.

"I wonder if being with these two isn't giving you bad ideas." He said and turned back to his computer. Mello looked at Matt's smiling face and suddenly felt the need to apologize. If it weren't for him, they'd be moving forward right now, really getting their futures started. He pulled Matt away from L and back towards the main room. Matt stared at him confused and he took a deep breath, he hated apologizing.

"Matt, I know it's my fault L didn't go for letting us open an agency, and it's not fair to you, I'm really sorry." Matt smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I always said you were a hot head. You just have to work harder at keeping it together, Mello. Now, go work with Near and tell him we'll meet him after dinner in our room to go over whatever information he's pulled up on Yagami. I'll go get my laptop and check up on what's happening in New York since we left, just in case something interesting pops up and I can run it past L, just to keep our noses in, okay?"

Mello nodded and after looking to see if anyone was looking he snuck a quick kiss and then walked over to Near's side of the room. Matt sighed as he watched him walk away. He loved him Mello more than anything, but he also knew Mello had to get past his constant knee jerk reactions to things, L was absolutely correct in that. It was the one thing that continually kept him number two to Near, although he would never say that out loud, not when it seemed Mello had finally managed to put that constant rivalry behind him. That alone was a major step, so he'd give him time to work on his emotional outbursts. He walked back over to L and gently touched the raven's shoulder to get his attention.

"I don't mean to interrupt you L, I value my life more than that, but I need to ask you a question." L turned to face him, waiting for the question, ignoring the joke.

"Is there anything I should be doing to help Mello get a handle on his emotions?" L's eyes shifted to where Mello was sitting with Near and then back to Matt's face.

"The only thing that you can do, Matt, is to make sure you don't continue to make excuses and apologies for him when he loses control. As I told you before he will not learn until he faces the consequences for such behavior. I would imagine he would listen to you even more readily than he does to me, so when you see him begin such behavior tell him immediately. Perhaps with constant reinforcement he will begin to recognize when it happens and be better prepared to control it. But ultimately, he is the one who must master his own emotions." Matt sighed and then grinned at L.

"Why do I see a future of black eyes ahead of me?" he said and L's head cocked to one side, a thumb going to his mouth, his eyes questioning.

"Don't worry, he doesn't beat me or anything like that, but he has been known to swing if he's really pissed."

"I see. Well, then there is an extra reason to get him to control himself. I have faith in both of you, Matt." L said and then turned back to his computer, discussion obviously over. As Matt began to walk away, L's computer buzzed letting him know a call on one of his private lines was coming in.

"This is L." he answered.

"Good morning, L." came a pleasant male voice over the speakers.

"Good morning, Light. Has there been movement on the case?" The trio all looked at each other as they heard who was on the other end of the conversation.

"We found another victim this morning, all evidence points to it as being the Van Gogh killer." L sighed, that made four victims and they still weren't any closer to finding him. He really needed to be there, he was sure there was some kind of physical evidence that he couldn't see in the pictures provided, that the police just weren't seeing.

"I see. I will be in Japan tomorrow, Light. I believe this case dictates that I need to be on sight." There was silence on the line for a moment before Detective Yagami spoke again.

"Is there a possibility, then, that we may be able to meet?" he asked tentatively, and the trio all turned their attention to L.

"For reasons that I am sure are obvious to you, I do not meet anyone." They all rolled their eyes at L's answer, was L playing hard to get?

"Oh, I understand completely, L. But I wondered if perhaps, since we've been working together for a while, that you might consider it a possibility. It would make it easier working on this case if we did." L was quiet for a moment, he knew how much he really wanted to meet Light, the sudden increase of his heart rate proved it if nothing else.

"I will take it into consideration, Light and contact you when I arrive. In the meantime, please forward information and pictures of   
the latest victim."

"As you will see, this victim is female, Kyumi Kazawari, age 32. Same method of death strangulation, subsequent removal of right ear." Near and Mello stood up and stood beside L as the pictures and information began to appear on his various screens.

"I wonder if the fact that they are strangled and then an ear removed is a clue as to why they are being murdered as well as how." L murmured, thumb running back and forth across his lip.

"What do you mean, L?" Detective Yagami inquired.

"We need to investigate the backgrounds of each of these victims more carefully, Light. I am beginning to believe that what's being done to them is for a reason, to bring attention to some slight the murderer feels has been done to him or her."

"Well, that was done originally to find a connection between them, but nothing has surfaced that they have in common."

"Yes, I did that as well, but I feel we are missing a large picture here. "

"It's possible, but I can't imagine what it is."\I'll see what I can discover here and when I arrive in Tokyo we'll go over it and see what we have found." L said examining close ups of the bruised neck of the victim. The outline of the chord used obvious. The use of the chord made it difficult to ascertain the sex of the murderer, but L was inclined to believe female; he believed a male's probable greater strength would leave deeper indentations.

"Good. I still say that would be done much easier if we could work together on this." Light tried again.

"You seem quite eager for a meeting to take place, Light," L said cautiously, "Is there another reason besides working on this case?" Again, there was silence from the other end of the conversation.

"I guess there is a desire to finally meet the man I have been talking to for such a while, it's my nature as a detective I imagine, I dislike unknowns." L smiled at the microphone.

"As do I Detective Yagami. I will contact you again when I arrive, unless something comes to the forefront before that time."

"I look forward to hearing from you, L." and L cut the connection.

"Have we found any connection between these victims, Near?" L asked and Near shook his head.

"I have cross-matched them in as many ways available," Near answered, "They do not seem to have anything in common except their deaths."

"Did we check to see if they knew one another?" Mello asked and Near nodded.

"I am currently running checks to see if they perhaps had any meetings between them, I haven't received complete results yet, but from what I've seen so far, nothing has come up."

"Add this last victim into the mix, perhaps something will come up. I cannot shake the feeling that we're being told why they're victims and why they are being murdered this way."

Near and Mello went back to their side of the room while Matt moved closer to L and spoke quietly to him.

"It appears that Detective Yagami wishes to meet you quite badly." He said and L turned to face him, a small smile on his lips.

'Indeed. But it's quite possible it's merely to quell his own curiosity and nothing more."

"Yea, and maybe he wants to get to know you better personally for an entirely different reason."

"This is also possible, but I have no way of proving this." L answered, a small blush adorning his porcelain features.

"Not unless you agree to meet him." Matt said smiling and then turned to go back to their room to wait for the others so they could do their own investigating.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After dinner Matt was back in the room waiting for the other two. He had pulled up a little information on the NPA and Yagami himself, after doing a little work on what they'd left behind in New York, as he waited for Mello and Near. He didn't have to wait too long, as within minutes of his pulling up his information they came into the room, laughing.

"Did you hear that contact backpeddle when L called him out? I think he needs to change his pants now, if he has an ass left." Mello said laughing and Near nodded, his eyes twinkling in complete merriment.  
"I hope I never make a mistake like that and if I do, I hope I realize it before I open my mouth to L." he added closing the door behind him.

"I take it one of L's contact screwed up royally?" Matt ventured as they came into the room.

"Oh, man did he ever!", Mello said sitting on the bed, "I wasn't paying attention at first, so I don't know what the basis was, all I know was that L's voice took on that "you're so full of shit" tone and he began to rapid fire this guy with questions that the poor schmuck couldn't begin to answer. All he did was stutter, he sounded like a broken engine..'but but but but but…'" Mello burst into laughter and Near picked up for him.

"L was relentless, that poor guy didn't have time to breathe much less answer. Finally L told him he was not to try to contact him again, the number he used would be disconnected and he was being relieved of his position and that even though he had no idea where or who L was, L knew all he needed about him; and if he did anything to try and retaliate, his life would not be worth the air he breathed."

"Holy shit¸ no way he fired him?" Matt asked looking from one to the other.

"I guess so, " Mello answered, "I've never heard L ever having done that before, but boy he did it big tonight. He then contacted Watari and told him what had happened, and that this contact was to be erased from all information and watched carefully for at least a year."

"Needless to say L's mood was not exactly sunshine and roses after that so we thought it would be best we excused ourselves for a while until he cooled off. He was that kind of pissed off where you could almost see it in waves over his head, his eyes were so black, Matt, I've NEVER seen him that angry. He got up and went on his balcony, and that's where we left him. But damn, that poor contact…LOL." He and Near laughed again and this time Matt joined them as he lit a cigarette.

"Well, at least we know he probably won't be looking for us for a bit. When he's that mad he stays that way for a while."

'Watari will calm him down, he always knows what to do." Near said pulling out his information and spreading it out on the bed.

"If he's smart he'll stay in his apartment for the next six hours!" Mello said laughing again and Matt picked up a picture of Light Yagami.

"I hope this guy is legit, they'd make an awesome couple." He said gazing at the picture and Mello snatched the picture.

"Stop staring so hard," he said tossing the picture and Matt laughed.

"Jealous, much?" he said laughing.

"I'm the one who first noticed how hot he was, remember. But you're right, they would make a great couple." Near sighed.

"I think part of the reason L is so reticent on meeting Detective Yagami is because he is so attractive. I do not believe L thinks he is in the same league, looks wise, that the detective is." Matt and Mello looked at him and then at each other.

"Be completely honest. We love L, we've known him all our lives, so the way he looks is just natural to us. But look at him from the way the rest of the world would and look at Detective Yagami. He is classically handsome, L is…well L. Every hair is in place on the detective, he appears to always be impeccably dressed, L's hair defies gravity and has it's own mind; he is far from ugly but he is not what is normally thought of as handsome I don't think. And his taste in clothes is definitely not what the detective's is. I believe he is concerned that the detective will find him distasteful."

"I've never once thought L would worry about that." Matt said looking down at the picture of the detective.

"Why would he? L has always been alone and away from society. But now that he is attracted to someone, the next obvious question would be whether or not he would be attractive to someone else." Mello said and looked to Matt.

"Matt, you've talked to him more about this than any of us. The next time you two are alone, you need to find out if this is true and make him realize he can't think that way."

"I don't want to set his hopes up and then this dude meets him and doesn't like what he sees. L would be devastated."

Mello was reading over some of Near's information and nodding. He held papers out to Matt.

"This guy looks totally trustworthy. Here's what I think we should do. We need to get in touch with Yagami when we get there. When we get L to agree to a meeting, we will go and meet this guy first, we will bring him to L. And to be on the safe side we will blindfold him when we pick him up like we said earlier and not take them off until he's inside the hotel room. That way he'll have no idea where he is and if this goes wrong, he'll have no way to trace it back."

"He'll know what L looks like, and that could be very damaging." Near added.

"Yea, I know that but if L wants to take the chance because he feels he wants a relationship, then we have to go along with it and just make sure we protect him. Just knowing what L looks like will not make him easily found. He doesn't go out, and very rarely does he go on site for cases, and when he does he can be disguised. We can work this out, guys we have to."

Matt continued to peruse the papers, following the detective's history from high school through college and into the NPA. If anything he more resembled L in his social habits than not. Although he appeared to be liked, he never seemed to be among the crowd, spending a majority of his time studying, and then going to cram school after classes. As they had seen before, he apparently flirted with dating, but he began to truly believe it was all more for show as the dating seemed to progress only so far, and there were only a couple of girls.

"I agree, Mello. I think it's safe for L to pursue this if he truly wants to. And I totally agree with the plans of bringing the detective to L. Now all I have to do is somehow bring this up to L without him thinking I think he looks weird."

"We don't think he looks weird, HE thinks he looks weird." Mello corrected.

"Well, maybe not weird, but unconventional. Especially against someone like Light Yagami." Near added and they looked at each other and began laughing.

"Who the hell are we to say anyone looks unconventional?" Matt said laughing, "You run around in your damn pajamas, and Mello looks like he pours leather on himself every morning!"

"Yea, and you look like you're always expecting your game to explode and cause an eye injury!" Near said curling up into himself on the bed.

"Hey, Near…you still have rubber duckies in your bathtub?" Mello asked snapping on a chocolate bar and Near's cheeks colored slightly.

"They keep me occupied during a rather boring necessary function." He stated matter of factly and Matt lifted a foot and pushed Mello off the bed.

"Don't let him bother you, Near. He doesn't feel right unless his balls are wrapped so tight in leather they can't move." Near burst out laughing and fell back on the bed as Mello picked himself off the floor and glared at Matt.

"I'm only keeping them fresh for you, dear." He sneered, and it was Matt's turn to laugh.

"Oh, you mean you treat your leather like a zip lock bag? Awesome…" There was a loud thump as Near had rolled off of the bed in his laughter, which caused the other two to completely lose it. Matt reached down and pulled the white-haired genius up from the floor as he continued to laugh.

"Are we agreed on the L situation?" Mello finally asked after the laughter had died down and they all nodded.

"Yes, I will try to talk to L tomorrow about he feels about his looks and we'll take on the Yagami boy when it's time for the meeting. Near, you really sure you're not going to come with us?" Near nodded.  
"I'm sure, Matt. I feel better staying here and holding up the fort, such as it is."

"You'll starve to death, Watari's going with L you know." Matt teased.

'This is an orphanage, remember? There IS a kitchen which prepares food all day." Near scowled at him. Matt blew smoke at him and then nearly fell off the bed when there was a knock on their door. They scrambled to push all the papers onto the floor before the door opened, which they barely accomplished as L opened the door almost immediately after the knock and walked in, checking first to make sure he wasn't catching them in a compromising position.

"I hope I am not interrupting anything." He said quietly as he closed the door behind him and all three shook their heads.

"No, we're just brainstorming." Matt said taking care to make sure the smoke didn't go L's way.

"We should be leaving around 7:30 in the morning, so I would suggest you get some rest tonight. We have a long flight ahead of us." He told them and then looked directly at Near.

"I have lost a contact this evening, so I will have to rely on you to keep up with what was his territory for the moment, Near, as best as you can remotely. I will replace him as quickly as possible. If you are free, I would like to go over with you exactly what he was doing and where." Near stood up immediately nodding.

"Of course, we are done here L, I am free right now." L nodded and smiled and then looked at Matt and Mello.

"I look forward to our working together on this," he said, "It will be the first time we've done this and should prove interesting. Many goals could be met on this case." He added and both young men smiled at him hopefully. “I have several of my own I wish to try to accomplish as well, so this will be a most interesting trip." He then turned and opened the door.

"I think everything is going to work out just fine, L." Matt said smiling knowingly and L turned back to him, giving him a small smile and a nod of his head before walking out of the door with Near right behind him.

"Hey, is there a bed on the L Jet?" Mello asked, his finger running down Matt's face, making Matt shudder involuntarily.

"Yea, an entire bedroom. Why?"

"I've never fucked in the air.…" Mello answered leaning down to kiss Matt who suddenly started laughing.

"I just had the funniest picture in my head…" he said and Mello grabbed him and kissed him roughly, one hand holding him in place by his hair. When he finally let him up for air, Matt's eyes were half lidded with desire, he loved it when Mello was rough with him.

"Laugh this off…" Mello told him and pushed him back against the bed, grabbing Matt's jeans and nearly ripping them off him, roughly pushing them down to his knees. He leaned down and kissed Matt roughly again, forcing his tongue into his mouth as Matt kicked off his boots. He then placed two fingers into Matt's mouth and Matt immediately sucked them, coating them with saliva. Mello removed his fingers and flipped Matt over, pulling him to his knees. He then inserted both of the saliva covered fingers into Matt, not being particularly gentle. Matt cried out at the intrusion, and he loved every moment of it. He leaned back against Mello's fingers, hissing at the burning sensation but wanting more. Mello moved his fingers in and out, leaned down and kissed Matt's back, licking down from his shoulders to his hips as he did, then grinned slyly and he hooked his fingers just the right way to find Matt's favorite spot.

"Oh God, Mello!" he cried out and nearly fell forward into the pillow. Mello undid his pants and release his straining cock. He slowly removed his fingers from Matt and whispered into his ear, “Grab the lube,” and grinned at how quickly Matt went for it. After using it on both of them, he slowly pushed himself into Matt, letting a growl escape as he was squeezed by Matt's tight muscles. Matt groaned as Mello pushed in relentlessly, not stopping until he was completely buried. Matt tightened his muscles around Mello which made Mello groan.

"Oh, Matt you shouldn't have done that…" he growled and grabbed Matt's hips, pulled out and then slammed back in, pulling Matt against him as he did, and set up a rhythm, not giving Matt a moment to catch his breath.

He continued slamming into Matt, leaning forward to take Matt's cock in his hand and began to stroke him with every thrust until Matt nearly screamed his name and came with such a force that his muscles squeezing him was almost painful. He leaned forward and increased his strokes until he finally released, burying his teeth into Matt's back as he did. They both collapsed on the bed, both breathing heavily and covered in sweat.

Matt rolled over and kissed the blonde gently, moving sweat covered hair from his forehead.

"Sometimes you're such an animal…" he said laughing and Mello grinned back.

"You love it." He answered and Matt's grin got wider.

"Oh, hell yea!" he said and Mello hugged him to his chest.

"I love you, Matty." He said quietly and Matt sighed against him.

"I love you too, but don't tell anybody." He said and they both laughed. They eventually kicked off the rest of their clothes and climbed into bed, still wrapped around each other, and fell asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Matt and Mello followed L onto L's private jet, barely holding their excitement from spilling over. They had never had the opportunity to ride on it before now and were looking forward to it. The door led them into the seating area which held seating for at least ten passengers. The seats were the most luxurious the boys had ever seen. Pristine white seats that were plush and incredibly comfortable with padded armrests and outlets for computers and anything else you might want to plug in. Directly behind the seats was an eating area, with two tables that extended from each side of the plane, with four chairs at each table. There was a small kitchen area behind the tables and beyond that was a closed door which they believed led to the bedroom. Mello nudged Matt when he noticed it and Matt rolled his eyes.

"Strap yourselves in, we'll be leaving immediately as soon as we are cleared. "L told them continuing towards the cockpit with Watari. They looked at each other, eyes wide.

"He's piloting this?" Matt asked out loud and they both laughed. It was cool enough they were in the jet, now they were going to be flown by L himself. It simply didn't get better than that. The door to the cockpit closed and they knew they were on their way. Matt reached out and grabbed Mello's hand as they felt the engines start up and Mello squeezed it, their excitement completely overtaking them.

"Gentlemen, please make sure you're belted in," L's smooth monotone came over the intercom, "We are beginning our taxi." He added and snapped off. The two watched as the outside began to move and pick up speed until the wheels left the runway and they were up in the air.

A few minutes later, Watari emerged from the cockpit and told them they could now move around.

"I'm getting L some coffee, you two need anything?" he asked, and they shook their heads.

"We're all set, if we need anything we can get it." Mello said, and he nodded and continued to the kitchen. Mello put the seat back and relaxed.

"Wake me if something exciting happens." He said closing his eyes and Matt nodded. He watched as Watari once again left the cockpit this time he prepared himself a cup of tea and snack and sat down in one of the seats and pulled out a book. Matt decided this would be a good time to talk to L about Light Yagami. He got up and went to the cockpit door and knocked before opening the door.

"Is it okay if I come in?" he asked when L turned to see who was coming in. L smiled and nodded.

"Of course, come on in." he said and gestured to the co-pilot's seat. Matt walked over and sat down, and for the first few moments all he could was stare at the view. He had never been in a plane cockpit before, and the vista before him was something he couldn't have even dreamed of. The sky before him was laid out like a huge cloud carpeted highway, with the fluff below them. Just a huge expanse of blue in front, the rays from the sun cascading over the front of the plane.

"Wow this is awesome!" Matt said in an almost reverent whisper and L smiled at him.

"It is a sight that can take one's breath away. I have found that it is very peaceful up here, and it certainly gives you a different perspective on many things." Matt almost forgot why he was here, the view was so spectacular. He tore his eyes away for a moment to look at L.

"I thought this would be a good time to speak some more about that little subject we discussed on your patio." He began. L looked at him for a moment and then back ahead of him.

"Go on," he said.

"Have you thought more about meeting the detective?" he asked, and L sighed.

"I seem to be thinking of practically nothing else, which alarms me." He said, and Matt laughed.

"It's okay, L to be excited about a possible meeting. This guy obviously means something to you, or you want him to. At least your taste is good, he's really good looking." L sighed.

"Yes, he is quite attractive. I wonder if he isn't too good looking." Matt knew what was coming next if Near had been correct.

"Why would you say that? He'll look great on your mantelpiece!" L smiled and then looked at Matt seriously for a moment.

"If you had to describe my…appearance what words would you use?"

"L, are you worried about how you're going to look to him?" L didn't answer right away, but Matt noticed his grip on the controls tightened a little.

"I have never been one to think about my appearance, I found no need. How I looked did not have any bearing on how I handle my cases, and as no one ever saw me it truly didn't matter, and even if they did I didn't really care. However, in some of my studies on the subject of attraction and relationships, looks appear to be an important part. I believe that in my case, he may be too good looking. I am not foolish, I know my own looks are nothing to get excited about." So, it was finally out, L WAS concerned about his own looks.

"Let me be completely honest with you, L," Matt began, 'You are not classically attractive as Yagami is, I don't know anyone who is except for Yagami! But neither are you hideous to look at in any way. You are not unattractive, and I am sure that if Yagami is as interested in you as he sounds, your looks are just fine. I can pretty much guarantee he's not going to find anyone else who looks like you, and that makes you exotic!" L smiled and looked at Matt again.

"You may be laying it on a bit heavy, but your motives are appreciated. I asked Watari what his advice would be, and he said almost the same. Except he thought I was being incredibly foolish to even think that way. I suppose in a way I am, but I think all of my feelings in this regard are foolish."

"Yea, well that's normal, it's just part of the package. Sometimes the things I do and think when it comes to Mello make me wonder what the hell's wrong with me, but it's just part of it. I never regret anything, I love Mello too much to regret anything I do either for him or with him." L looked at Matt carefully for a few moments and then back at the sky in front of him.

"Then it is normal that I feel I must do whatever is necessary to meet Light and find out if this madness is indeed not one-sided?" he asked, and Matt laughed.

"Absolutely, even for you, L. He must have already done something to make you so interested before you met." He said.

"I found after working with him several times that his mind is brilliant, very much like my own. We could talk with each other as we could not talk to others, we seem to share that type of feeling we do not belong with the majority of the world. There are times during cases that we found we were thinking the exact same thing, planning the exact same moves, it was quite refreshing."

"No wonder you're attracted to each other. L, no matter what, you have to meet this guy. You have to take that first step." L sighed and then nodded.

"I believe you are right, Matt. If nothing else, it will forever be a great unknown to me and I cannot tolerate things I do not know."

"Good, Mello and I will pick him up and make sure he doesn't know where he's going. We're not taking any unnecessary chances. You contact him when we get to Japan and set the time and date. " Matt added and L nodded again.

"I will leave that to you two and Watari then. Just try not to be too...exuberant in your mission."

"We promise to behave with him, don't worry." Matt said smiling and L looked at him and then smiled.

"I trust you to do just that. I also appreciate your discussing this with me, it is very difficult for me and as you are one of only two people I know who are actively in a relationship, I value your input." Matt grinned, thrilled he could do anything to help L in any capacity.

Would you like to try your hand at flying?" L suddenly asked, and Matt's jaw dropped, and he stared at L and then out of the window.

"Are you serious?" he asked

"I am always serious, you must know that by now." L answered, and Matt laughed.

"Sure, that's what you want us to believe, but sure, if it's okay, I'd love to try."

L gave him quick instructions for holding the plane steady and what to look for on the panel in front of him. He then had Matt take the controls in front of him and slowly released his hold on his.

"You now have control." He told the excited red head and sat back in his chair. Matt at first held on to the controls for dear life, and then slowly relaxed his grip. He could feel the plane under his control and it felt...awesome!

"L! This is…this is amazing!" he said turning to look at the detective for just a moment, who favored him with a warm smile.

"Yes, I have to agree with you, it is amazing. Now watch that scope in front of you, you want to remain level with that line." Matt nodded and couldn't stop grinning, this was the most amazing feeling he had ever experienced. L allowed him to pilot the plane for a while, until he noticed a particularly large bank of clouds ahead.

"They could make things a little bumpy, Matt. I need you to go back in and buckle up and send Watari in, I may need his help." L told him as he took back over the controls. Matt nodded and jumped out of the seat.

"Thanks for that, L. It was amazing!" he said as he got to the cockpit door.

"You're welcome, now go get belted in." L said sternly, and Matt flew out of the door. He got back to his seat and told Watari that L wanted him, and belted himself back in. He checked the still sleeping Mello and made sure he was still belted in and then relaxed.

L had been right, the minute those clouds closed in on the plane it began to feel like a car on a road full of potholes. He'd been on bumpy rides on planes before, so it didn't bother him, he always thought it was kind of funny that something that looked so soft and fluffy could knock the hell out of an airplane. Besides, in these awesome seats you almost didn't notice it. A particularly jarring bump shook Mello enough to wake him up and he turned and stared at Matt.

"What the hell?" he asked, sure Matt had done something to wake him up.

"Don't blame me, bumpy clouds." Matt answered, and Mello turned and looked out of the window.

"Oh…fucking clouds." He said and closed his eyes again to go back to sleep. Matt laughed at him and reached over and took his hand. Mello smiled as he drifted off to sleep and Matt decided a nap would probably be a good way to wait out the rough ride. He closed his eyes, his hand still holding Mello's, and drifted off to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It had been a long time since Near had gone down to the cafeteria to eat breakfast; Watari had spoiled him since he began working with L. He made his way directly into the kitchen to avoid the horde of children in the actual cafeteria area. He remembered all too well what the stampede was like at meal times, he himself having nearly been trampled several times. He was generally the smallest of any group in the cafeteria and it was usually because of Matt and Mello that he made it through unscathed as they always had his back.

Everyone there knew him and so no one paid him any heed as he took a plate and looked over the food before it was sent out into the cafeteria, except for one young woman who was obviously a recent hire who looked at him accusingly.

"Here now, what are you doing here in the kitchen? You should be waiting to come in with the rest of the students!" Near turned ready to teach her who he was when his dark eyes rested on the bluest pair of eyes he could remember seeing. They were only part of the picture as he then pulled back and saw an attractive face, framed by what he suspected was long blonde hair tucked into a ponytail and hair net. After finding his voice he answered.

"First of all, I am gathering my breakfast; secondly, I am no longer a student-I work and live here" The cafeteria worker looked at him skeptically, her hands on her hips as she watched him walk towards the food. She turned and walked over to one of her co-workers who verified he indeed worked and lived there, and that he was quite special, although she wasn't at liberty to say why.

"Well, the least he could have done was get dressed. The nerve of him wearing his pajamas down here." She said with disdain as she watched him go from serving dish to serving dish. She held back a giggle as she watched his reaction to the poached eggs, his face wrinkling in disgust. She cocked her head to one side and appraised him from afar. His face was quite pleasing she thought, with dark eyes that she could see shining from where she stood. His shock of white hair was quite unusual and when you put it together with his white pajamas, he was definitely an unusual sight.

Near suddenly felt he was being stared at and he turned to catch the gaze of the young cafeteria worker, who smiled at him, and then quickly turned away, obviously embarrassed that she was caught staring. She immediately went back to work, sneaking a look at him every now and then as he finished putting his breakfast together.

When he was finished, Near turned to leave the way he came, and noticed the young woman loading bacon into an empty serving dish. He walked over to it and peered inside.

"Could I have a few slices?" he asked, and she smiled, reaching in with the serving fork and placing them on his plate.

"Of course you can," she said smiling, "I understand your work here is quite important." He looked up at her and smiled.

"Well, it does keep me busy. Thank you…"

"Jennifer." She supplied and he nodded and began to walk away.

"Aren't you going to tell me your name, then?" she asked and he stopped and turned back to her.

"I'm sorry, it's Near." He said and turned back around and left the kitchen. His walk back to the hidden stairway that eventually led to L's apartment was fraught with all kinds of strange thoughts in the young genius' mind. What was that feeling he got when Jennifer smiled at him as she placed the bacon on his plate. It was if he suddenly had a fever and it just as quickly went away.

He sighed as he finally entered L's apartment and placed the plate on the table. He didn't like mysteries he couldn't even fathom how to solve. He sat down and began to eat his breakfast, wondering how soon the others would be arriving in Japan, he suddenly felt the need to talk to someone so he could get this stupid feeling under control and out of his system. Jennifer's eyes and face suddenly appeared in his mind and he felt that uncomfortable warmth again. This was definitely distressing, perhaps he was getting ill.

The plane landed just as easily as it had taken off, Watari and L obviously being expert pilots and perfectly in control of the plane. Matt and Mello had spent a good deal of the flight sleeping, and when they were awake they were at the tables, eating, playing games and talking with L, when Watari had given him a break for dinner. It had been the most enjoyable long flight they could remember.

Once they were on the ground, through customs and in their rented car, the boys marveled at the sights of Tokyo around them. It was the very early morning for Japan and yet the streets were busier than they would have suspected. L had been several times and was able to answer their questions and realized just how much he was beginning to enjoy having them and their enthusiasm with him this time.

They arrived at their hotel and Watari did his usual duties of acquiring the room and then sweeping the room making sure it was safe. The boys helped Watari with the bags and then stared in amazement at the room when they arrived. It was the most opulently furnished room they'd ever seen, leather furnishings, glass tables which were already adorned with crystal bowls filled with candies of all types, a large dining area with a cherry wood table and six chairs, already set with linens and expensive looking dishes and crystal, a chandelier hanging over it. There was a work area, complete with a desk and other office equipment. Watari had packed what L called his traveling computer set up, which was what he and Mello would be working on.

"Geez, L does this room generally go to kings and sultans?" Mello asked looking around at the suite of rooms. L looked around him unimpressed.

"I imagine it is a distinct possibility. Watari chooses the rooms based on seclusion and security so it would make sense that a dignitary would require the same. Matt, I will require your assistance in setting up my work station so that Watari can get some rest after the long flight and before getting in contact with the NPA. Mello, if you would be kind enough to contact Near and let him know we have arrived and find out if there is any movement on the case. Let him know that as soon as I am set up, I will contact him. It should only take us two hours to get everything set up. It is approximately 2:00 a.m. here, which would make it about 7:00 in the evening back home. Once we have everything set up you two may retire to try and alleviate any jet lag you may be feeling. I imagine you need to put your bags in your chosen bedroom first." He said reaching into one of the bowls.

He and Matt grabbed their bags and headed in the direction they assumed the bedrooms were in and opened the first door they came to and went in. The bedroom was no less opulent with a huge bathroom on the other side of the room.

"This is crazy," Matt said inspecting the room, "There's even a TV in the bathroom!" Mello walked over to him and laughed as he peeked into the bathroom.

"You're right, this is crazy," he said then leaned down to kiss him when L's voice boomed from the living room.

"Gentlemen, we have much to do. I do not believe it takes that long to drop off your bags." Matt sighed shrugged his shoulders.

"Dad calls." He said, quickly kissed Mello's lips then ran back to L, while Mello went to the phone to call Near.

Near had just arrived back in the apartment after being back down in the kitchen to get his dinner when the computer beeped with an incoming call. He took a little more time at lunch when he got his meal, and even more time just now with dinner. Each time he spoke a bit more with Jennifer, finding he enjoyed her easygoing banter and smile.

He dropped his dish on the table and hurried over to the computer, connecting the call immediately.

"This is Near." He said.

"Hey, Snowball how ya hanging all by yourself?" Near frowned at the nickname he had never been too thrilled about.

"Ah, Mello. So, despite my best prayers you did not fall out of the plane over the Sea of Japan." There was a burst of laughter over the speakers and the well-known sound of a candy bar being bitten.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but not this time." Mello answered, and it was Near's turn to smile.

"So, the trip was uneventful?" he asked.

"Near, have you ever been in that plane? It's amazing!"

'Actually, I have not. But I would imagine anything L has would be the top of the line."

"Whenever you get the chance, you have to get on it, and then this hotel room is mind blowing!" Near laughed then, Mello's excitement was completely infectious.

"So what time is it there, it must be very early?"

"Yea, its 2:30 in the morning, but L wanted me to let you know we were here and to ask if anything new had come up on the case."

"No," Near answered, "I do have some new information on the last victim, but nothing that I feel will lead us to our killer"

"Alright, I'll tell L. He said also to tell you that within the next couple of hours he'll be set up and he'll be contacting you himself." Near nodded at the microphone and then realized that was ridiculous.

"Then I will be waiting for him. Mello, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what's up?" Near searched for the words, his fingers twirling in his hair furiously.

"I believe I have met someone who somewhat interests me, and I think I am in the same predicament as L." Mello was quiet for a moment and then chuckled.

"Damn, Snowball we've only been gone a few hours. Leave you alone and…."

"Please, Mello I am serious. How do I know if this could be something…interesting?" he heard Mello sigh and snap the bar again.

"You'll know. For now, just keep talking to him…err…her…which is it?"

"Girl, she works in the kitchen."

"Seriously, Near you just have to let things happen. You'll know soon enough if it's something…interesting, or just indigestion." Near sighed again and suddenly remembered his dinner.

"If there's nothing else, Mello my dinner is getting cold." He heard Mello laugh.

"Let it. It'll give you a reason to go back to the kitchen…"

"Good bye, Mello." He said and broke the connection. He got up and went to the table and sat down, fork in hand and took a bite. He grimaced, it had gotten cold; nothing's worse than cold mashed potatoes. He got up with the plate and headed to the little kitchenette where there was a microwave. Just as he opened the door, a thought crossed his mind and a smile graced his face. He closed the door to the microwave and walked to the door instead, plate in hand.

As he had estimated, L and Matt finished setting up his workstation two hours later. Matt made sure the scrambler was working perfectly so that it would send out a false IP location so that L could not be traced, and his voice synthesizer was in working order.

"Okay, L you should be good to go." He said, the weariness obvious in his voice. L turned and smiled at him.

"Thank you, Matt I appreciate your efforts. Please go get some rest." Matt nodded and then looked worriedly at L.

"What about you? I don't think you've slept since we left Heathrow and you flew practically the entire way here."

"I am fine, do not trouble yourself over my welfare. I will rest once I've contacted Near and we are both up to date. You know I do not require much in the way of sleep. Good night, Matt."

"Good-night, L." Matt said knowing he had been dismissed and the conversation was now over. He walked towards the bedroom just as he saw Watari coming out of his. They smiled at each other, Matt knowing within the next few minutes there would be fresh coffee and pastries on L' desk. He often wondered how the man did it.

L looked at the clock on the computer, it was far too early to think about contacting Light. He felt as if the next few hours were never going to pass.

Matt walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind him, and smiled as he saw Mello sprawled across the bed sound asleep. He walked over to him and ran his hand through his hair to wake him up. Mello finally looked up at him thru blurry eyes and smiled.

"What time is it?" he asked groggily.

"Time to take off your clothes and get into bed." Matt answered and Mello nodded and did just that, peeling off his leather and crawling between the cool soft sheets. Matt did the same and crawled in beside him. Mello opened his arms for Matt and he obliged, laying his head on Mello's chest. Within minutes they were both asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Light waited as long as he could before he dialed the special number L had given him. He knew he had to be in Japan by now, and he needed to talk to him. He'd had some movement on the case he wanted to share, and then there was their meeting to plan.

He felt the familiar nervousness go through his system, his heart picking up speed as well as he thought about their meeting. He would have to make sure he controlled himself, he felt as if all he wanted to do was walk into the room and take L into his arms. Just talking to the genius detective had filled so many empty places inside him over the past two years they had worked together, that he couldn't imagine what actually being with him would be like, but he couldn't wait to find out. He hoped he was reading all the signals properly, that he wasn't misreading what L was telling him and that he was indeed truly interested in more than just working with him. This was a big gamble, but he had to play it. He found he didn't even care about what he looked like, well..not much anyway. The fact that they met intellectually on so many levels was what really excited him. Their ideas on so many things seemed to meet, from moral issues to the state of the world. If he was good looking on top of that, it was frosting on the cake. If he wasn't...well as long as we weren't talking Freddy Krueger, that would be fine.

He stood up from his desk and walked out of the office into the hall and found a quiet corner. He dialed the number and held his breath.  
L stood at the large tinted window that overlooked the city, his thumb at his mouth, and his other hand dug deeply into his pocket. He knew he should have called Light by now, but he suddenly found himself unable to do so. Whenever he tried to connect the call he would freeze and that was so unlike him. He didn't fear anything, except this. He sighed deeply and stared out into the city. Somewhere out there was Light Yagami, waiting for a call that he was afraid to make. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Watari sanding behind him, a slice of his favorite cake with strawberries and vanilla icing in his hand and a warm smile on his face.

"I take it you have not called yet." He said quietly, and L shook his head as he took the cake offered.

"I find I have not been able to place the call, Watari. What if meeting him ruins the friendly relationship we already have? I enjoy the friendship we have, I do not wish to ruin it."

"L, to put it in terms you would understand, I believe there's at least a 98% chance that this meeting will enhance your friendship, not destroy it." L's eyes widened at Watari's use of his percentages to punctuate a point. He smiled as he cut off a piece of cake and held the fork in front of his face.

"You realize that I generally make up those numbers?" He said before putting the fork in his mouth and Watari laughed, nodding.

"Of course. But in this case, I truly believe it. If you do not L, you will regret it and continually wonder what if. No matter what happens, is it not better to find out your answers for sure? As the detective you are, you know this is true."

L stared at him for a moment and then moved away towards his desk. He sat down at stared at the several screens in front of him before setting down the plate and fork. He reached across to the computer and began to make the connection to Light's phone…when his computer beeped at him. Looking at the number flashing on his screen he knew it was Light. He looked at Watari who smiled knowingly and left the room. L continued the reach he had started and pushed the button to connect the call.

Matt opened the door quietly to look out into the front room as Mello showered in the bathroom behind him. He saw Watari talking to L and he could hear their conversation. He wasn't surprised to find out L had not yet called, he knew he'd have difficulty with that. If he didn't do it soon, he'd come out and help him calm his nerves somehow, he had to make that call. Suddenly the computer beeped and from the look on both of their faces it was obvious who was calling. He watched Watari smile and walk out of the room at about the same time that Mello came out of the bathroom, towel drying his hair.

"What are you doing?" Mello asked him, and Matt turned and shushed him.

"Watching L. It looks like Light is calling him to make the meeting time. Now be quiet so I can hear!" he said, and Mello chuckled.

"Yes, dear." He said, and Matt ignored him, straining to hear.

"This is L."

"And this is Light wondering why you have not called me yet. I was beginning to worry that something had happened to the plane." L smiled and sat back in his chair, the very sound of his voice soothing the uncertainty he had felt at making the call.

"I apologize for making you wait and wonder, it is my inability to decide what I should do that kept me from calling." Light was quiet for a few moments before he spoke.

"Were you having second thoughts about meeting me? Have I done something to make you rethink this?"

'Absolutely not. To be perfectly honest with you I am at a loss of exactly what to do or say. I have very rarely met anyone other than the few operatives I work with. This is completely unknown territory for me. Also, if you do not like what you see, perhaps you would rather not continue this working relationship we have as well, and I would not wish that to happen." He heard a quiet chuckle from the connection and a deep sigh.

"L, I can assure you that would never happen, even if for some reason we do not have a successful meeting. So, before you come up with something else, give me a time you wish me to meet you and tell me where."

"For reasons of security which I am sure you can understand, I will not be able to tell you exactly where or when. You will be contacted again and picked up at that time. Once you are in the car you will be blindfolded until you have arrived here and are safely inside the building and with me. I apologize ahead of time for the inconvenience this may cause you, but I'm sure you understand."

"Of course, I expected something similar."

"Also, it would be best if you begin using my cover name, Ryuzaki. It will make it easier to not make a mistake and say my real name in the wrong place."

"That will not be a problem. Ryuzaki, can I ask you something in order to make sure I've understood where we are?" Light asked quietly and L smiled at the microphone.  
"You may ask me anything, Light."

"If I were to walk in there and feel that the first thing I wanted to do was kiss you, would you let me? What would you do?"

"I know what I'd do, I'd fucking stick my gun in his mouth and blow his brains out! Who does he think he is that he thinks he can just walk in and…?" Mello ranted, and Matt pushed him away from the door.

"This isn't about you, Mello shut the fuck up!" he hissed and turned his attention back to L. He could see L's face had colored at the question and his already impossibly huge eyes seemed to grow wider as he thought about it.

"I imagine I might let you, not to be rude you understand. I suppose this is your way of trying to find out what my persuasion might be, so I hope I answered it correctly. But, that doesn't sound particularly Japanese that kind of display." This time Light actually laughed for a few moments.

"You're right, I WAS trying to find out definitively if you were gay and yes, you answered perfectly. Of course, that doesn't rule out that I may still want to kiss you."

"We shall see, Detective Yagami, just how bold you truly are." L said smiling, surprised at just how much that idea stimulated his senses.

"And now that the important subject is taken care of, I do have some more information on the case."

"Please continue." L answered, the mood effectively changed as he shifted to all business.

"We have been trying to find what the common denominator is for these murders. Like you I am sure these murders are related, and that the injuries to the neck and removal of an ear means something. The only thing that has surfaced from talking to friends of the victims, is that they all were recently dating someone and that they recently broke up with that someone." That small amount of information began to pick itself through L's brain.

"Do we know who they were dating? Can we round up these boyfriends?" he asked.

"That's what we're working on now, finding the men they were seeing. Somewhere there is a commonality, I know there is."

"Light, did these women know each other?" L asked suddenly.

"We have not found evidence that they did, but each one of these victims was relatively popular, they each had many acquaintances and friends." L's thumb worried at his mouth as he digested this new information.  
"I will go over what you have given me, and we can talk about this when you arrive."

"I was hoping we could have dinner together and discuss something other than business when we met." Light said.

"That could be arranged, but I don't think we should take too much time away from this case."

"I understand. Well, I will look forward to finally meeting you, Ryuzaki."

"Yes. As do I, Light."

"I've got to get back to work, so good-bye for now."

"Yes, good-bye, Light." L said and broke the connection. He sat there for a moment, going over everything that was said in the conversation. His concern that perhaps Light was not interested in a relationship was now moot, interesting way for him to make it clear what he wanted. That was a question though, what would he do if Light wanted to kiss him? He'd never been kissed, had no clue what he was supposed to do. He turned to his computer and began to search the web.

Matt closed the door and turned to Mello with a big grin on his face, to find Mello with a big scowl on his.

"What's wrong with you? This is great, L's going to meet Light finally!"

"Don't you think he's moving too quickly? He wants to walk in and kiss him? What's up with this guy?" Mello asked and Matt burst into laughter.

Come on, Mello that was mostly to find out whether or not L was gay and not going to punch Light if he came in and made it obvious that he was. It was a test, is all." Mello looked doubtful and ran a hand through his hair.

"I know I was all for L meeting this guy, but this is just a little nerve wracking now that it's happening." Matt walked over to the fuming blond and patted his face.

"Aw, now Dad we knew this day would come when we had to let our little one go out on his first date…" Mello pushed him away in disgust.  
"Asshole," he muttered, "Aren't you the least bit concerned?" Matt sighed.

"Of course, I'm concerned, L's never done this and it's obvious he's got feelings for this guy already. I don't want anything to go wrong and have him get hurt, but he has to take this first step." Mello nodded and took a deep breath.

"Okay. Let's talk with L about when he wants us to pick this guy up. And I will have a few questions for him when we do."

"Mello, don't scare the guy off before he even meets L!" Matt warned laughing and Mello merely scowled at him again.

"He has nothing to worry about as long as I feel his intentions are what they should be," he said and that just made Matt laugh harder. There was a knock on the door and then it opened, and L walked in.

"As I am sure you both were listening in to my conversation, you know that Light and I have connected, and he will be waiting for a call when you are ready to pick him up. As he also mentioned he would like to have dinner, I would suggest you pick him up as he leaves the building he works in. You will bring him directly here, I do not want him intimidated or put ill at ease in any way, is that understood?" They both nodded, and L seemed satisfied.

"Fine. Now, there is work to do until that time, I didn't bring you here just to sightsee. Mello, I have a station for you to work on, and I need you to run some cross references for me as I get in contact with Near. 

Near is going to be busy taking up for the contact that I lost, so he will not be able to keep current with this case. Effectively you will now get your chance to work with me on this case now. Matt, I need you to hack into the businesses these victims worked at to see what kind of information they had on them in their files." He turned and walked out of their room and into the living room.


	12. Chapter 12

World 12

The large black car pulled up to the corner of the apartment building and parked. Matt and Mello in the back seat had been following Light as he had driven from his office to this building and had parked. He had not indicated that he knew he was being followed, but they hadn't been particularly trying to hide either. As he got out of his car, Matt called his cell phone. He looked around and then reached into his pocket to answer it.

"Detective Yagami." He answered.

"Hey, Detective Yagami. My name is Matt and I work for L. If you walk away from your car and turn left, you're going to find a black car parked on the corner. I'm here to take you to L."

"I had a feeling I was being followed. You weren't being particularly stealthy." Light answered as he walked in the direction of the car.

"I wasn't trying to be. Believe me, if we had wanted to be you would have had no idea." Matt answered and Watari nodded.

"Actually, I believe that. Okay, I see the car, I'll be right there." Light closed his phone and stuck it into his pocket as the large black car came into view. As he got closer, the passenger door to the back seat opened and Light stopped for a moment as he watched a blonde figure emerge from the car. At first, he wasn't sure whether it was male or female, but he certainly recognized the gun being held low and out of general view. He started walking again until he got face to face with, he could now see, the leather clad young man. He quickly looked him over, from his leather clothing to the rosary around his neck. He gazed at his face and smiled.

"Are you Matt?" he asked, and a chuckle came from inside the car.

"Naw, that's Mello, I'm Matt. Come on and get in." he said, and Light nodded and did so, watching Mello carefully as he climbed in on the other side of him closing the door behind him. He looked at the young, smiling red head leaning against the seat next to him. He wondered about the goggles on the top of his head, but said nothing, just smiled back.

"I don't believe you really need to hold me at gunpoint, Mello." He said, and Mello smiled.

"Maybe not, but I want to make sure a few things are clear before we go anywhere." He answered, and Matt rolled his eyes.  
"Come on, Mello…"

"I'm not going to say anything bad, I just want to lay a few ground rules. First of all, if you have a gun, you're going to take it off here." Light nodded and reached into his jacket, removed his gun and handed it to Mello.

"Now I'm going to make sure you're not wearing any kind of wire or tracking device. If it beeps red, I'll shoot you." He said as Watari reached back and handed him a small monitor. He turned it on and ran it over Light's body from the top of his head to his shoes and back again. The monitor continued to flash a green light, meaning that nothing had been found. He handed the monitor back to Watari and nodded, who then put the car into gear and began to move.

Matt produced a black blindfold and covered Light's eyes with it, tying it behind his head.

"I'm sorry we had to be so cautious, but I'm sure you understand why." He said as he finished tying it. Light nodded.

"Of course. This is L I'm going to see, he has to be extremely careful. I completely understand.

"So, you're interested in beginning a relationship with L, other than business." Mello stated, and Light paused before answering.

"Is it required that people that work for L know his personal life as well?" he asked, and Mello leaned over to him so that his mouth was very close to Light's ear.  
"We ask the questions, pretty boy, watch yourself." He sneered, and Matt shook his head and gestured for him to stop. Mello shook his head.

"To answer your question then, yes I am. I'm hoping he feels the same way, I think he does."

"Just a word of warning, Detective Yagami, if I feel for a moment that you pose any kind of threat for L, physical or emotional, I will shoot you without question. Do you understand?"

"Threatening a police officer is an offence…"

"Killing one's even worse, but I'm not worried about either problem." Mello answered and Light grinned.

"I always imagined L was an amazing person, but to have people who are this protective of him working for him just cements it. Look, I promise you, I have no ill intentions towards L in any way, just the opposite."  
"Mello stop it, L's gonna kick your ass if you don't stop!" Matt warned, and Mello moved away from Light, and put his gun away.

"Fine. I just wanted to make sure..."

"I know, Mello but you have to remember what L said." Mello nodded and sat back against the car seat.

"Is it alright if I ask how long you've been with L?" Light asked

"Sure, you can ask." Mello answered, and Matt laughed.

"I see. Too much information, I guess." Light said and sighed, "Sorry."

"It's ok, Light. You're in a crazy position right now, blindfolded with a crazy man with a gun next to you. I'd want to know something about us too. But we can't, not yet anyway." Light nodded and then cocked his head towards Matt as he suddenly heard strange noises coming from his direction.

"Video game?" he ventured, and he heard Matt laugh.

"God of War, and right now Cronos is kicking major ass!" Matt answered and then it was Light's turn to laugh. He already liked Matt, it was Mello he was slightly concerned about. He was silent the rest of the ride, listening to Matt play and the loud snaps that kept coming from Mello's side. He hoped he was eating something but with this guy he wasn't sure.

"We're here." Matt said as Watari pulled into the hotel garage and guided the car into a private parking spot. After parking, Mello got out and helped the blindfolded Light out of the car and into the garage entrance of the hotel. They made their way to the private elevators for dignitaries and special guests and piled in.

L had long given up trying to work since the boys left to pick up Light. He paced throughout the living room, stopping only to grab another sweet and sometimes to gaze out of the window at the lights of the city as darkness fell. He could not remember another time he felt so nervous, so unsure. He kept going over in his mind if perhaps this was a mistake, perhaps he should not go through with this after all. He shook his head and sighed. No, he would continue, no matter what the outcome would be he had to continue. He started slightly when he heard the door behind him open as he continued to stare out of the window.

Watari moved through the apartment towards the door that adjoined his room to L's stopping to grab L's arm and smile encouragingly at him. L gave him a small smile and nodded and Watari continued towards the kitchen. Mello led Light into the middle of the living room and began to untie his blindfold.

"Okay Detective, we're inside L's room, I can let you see now." He said as he undid the knot behind Light's head. When he did Light blinked a few times and looked around. His eyes settled on the figure standing with his back to him in front of the window. The first thing he noticed was the wild raven colored hair, then the slight stoop to his back clothed in a loose white shirt. He could see his hands were jammed into the front pockets of what appeared to be well worn jeans and then he noticed he was barefoot.

"Gentlemen, I thank you for bringing Detective Yagami here. Now, I'm sure you can find something to do." Came a soft voice from the figure. Mello walked over to the figure.  
"I think we should stay here, just in case." L turned to him and shook his head.

"No, that won't be necessary. I am quite capable of protecting myself if it were to become necessary, you know this. Please follow my wishes." Mello sighed but nodded his head and walked back to Matt who then opened the door to the room and led him out into the hallway.

"God damn it! I don't like this!" Mello said as they walked away from the door. Matt put his arm around him.

"We both know how lethal L can be if necessary. We've made sure that Light's not armed, it will be fine. Remember you wanted this to happen too."

"Yes, but not without observation the first time. I don't feel right just leaving him like this."

"Watari's there, don't forget. He's enough back up for anyone." Mello looked at Matt and then laughed.

"That's for sure. Alright, let's go down and get something to eat." He said, and Matt nodded.

"I trust they weren't too hard on you during your ride here." L said still not turning around.

"Nothing I didn't expect," Light answered as he crossed to where L was standing, "It's quite obvious they care a great deal for you." He added when he was close enough to L to touch him. He saw the detective flinch when he heard how close his voice was. He reached out and rested a hand on L's shoulder feeling him tense at the touch.

L took a deep breath and finally turned to face Light. At first all Light could see was more wild hair as L had his head down, staring at the floor. Light reached out and placed his hand under L's chin and lifted his head.

The first thing that struck him was L's eyes, they were huge and black, and stared back at him, revealing nothing in their depths, yet seemed to see directly through him. He could see the dark lines under them and assumed they were from over work or lack of sleep. They contrasted with the porcelain skin of his face and neck, proving that the detective spent no time outside, attesting to his reclusive life, and the slightly upturned nose above what appeared to be an invitingly soft and seductive mouth. He gazed at the unusual features which he also found fascinating and strangely attractive to him and smiled. L continued to stare back at him, his expression revealing nothing.

L immediately took Light's pause as a bad sign and immediately moved away from him heading towards the middle of the living room. He knew from the pictures how good-looking Light was, but seeing him up close nearly took his breath away. He had never seen anyone with honey-amber eyes before and they were amazing, but he hadn't seen anything in those eyes that looked as if they had found anything particularly enjoyable about him. He should have known better, he certainly couldn't live up to Light's looks, he could only have been a disappointment.

"I imagine you would like me to call and have you taken back home now," he said reaching for a handful of jelly beans from one of the dishes on the table, "Now that your curiosity has been sated. I will be calling you in the morning to learn of any other leads you may have…" he suddenly felt his arm being tugged and turned to face a confused Light.

"What are you talking about? Why would I want to leave when I've just arrived?" he asked.

"You needn't feel you have to stay out of courtesy, I would not wish to keep you any longer." Light pulled L closer to him and stared into those impossibly huge dark eyes.

"Courtesy? Ryuzaki I wish to stay because I want to." L stared back at him for a moment without blinking and then looked away, afraid he would not be able to keep hiding the disappointment out of his eyes while looking into Light's.

"Of course. I did offer you dinner and discussion about the case. It would be very rude of me not to follow through now that you have come so far." Light pulled him back to face him, shaking his head.

"It has nothing to do with that. What is wrong with you, are you changing your mind now that we've met face to face? What have I done?"

"You've done nothing Light, except be honest with what you felt when you finally saw me. Your hesitation suggests to me that it is you who has changed his mind."

"My hesitation? Ryuzaki, I needed a moment to take you in, unlike you I had no pictures or files to look at to let me know what you looked like ahead of time. This is the first time since we began working together almost two years ago that I have been able to see you. You have to give me a moment to put it all together." He explained. L sighed and looked down at his feet.

"And now that you have had your moment, what is it that you wish to do? Leave now or stay a bit longer for dinner and discussion? I am fine with either decision." Light reached forward and lifted L's chin up with his fingers.

"Why are you just giving me those two options? There is a third, you apparently have forgotten." He told him. Light leaned forward slowly and gently touched his lips to L's for just a few moments. He pulled back, his smile warm and genuine as he waited for L to react. He watched as L's hand came up to his mouth, his thumb rubbing back and forth across his lips, splash of color rising to his cheeks.

L hadn't realized that he had stopped breathing until Light's lips left his and he began breathing again, his thumb rising to his mouth. Light's warm smile told him all he needed to know, and he finally smiled back. He saw the immediate relief in Light's eyes as he did.

"You are correct, I had forgotten that option. At least I know you are true to your word."

He said and Light nodded.

"Of all the options you would forget that one. Can I stay now?" Light asked, and L laughed, turning to sit on the couch, drawing his knees up to his chest.

"Yes, please do. I am sure Watari will be arriving soon with dinner." Light joined him on the couch and took in the way he was sitting.

"Is that comfortable?" he asked as once again L reached into the candy dish.

"That isn't the issue. The issue is that if I do not sit this way, my deductive reasoning decreases by 40%." Light looked him over and tried to reason out how that could possibly work and shrugged his shoulders.

"How did you discover that this was the case?" he asked and was pleased to see L relax even more as he began to explain how he discovered that sitting that way helped his reasoning.

Watari stood up from his desk and turned off the monitor. He was pleased to see that their meeting appeared to be going well. He returned his gun to its usual hiding place that he had removed it from, now that he was sure he wouldn't need it and L was safe. He then proceeded to call room service and have food sent up to his room that he could in turn serve it to L and Light.

Mello lifted his face from his food to face Matt as he heard him release a long breath and sit back against the chair.

"What's the matter, does the food suck?" he asked and Matt shook his head.

"No, food's fine. It appears their meeting is going off very well." He said and Mello looked at him quizzically.

"What are you talking about?" he asked and watched as Matt removed a small earphone from his ear. Mello had seen it but thought it went to his video game.

"It was a bit touchy for a few minutes, but everything seems to have smoothed out." Matt said smiling as Mello stared open mouthed at him.

"You bugged L room?" he asked incredulous and Matt laughed, nodding his head.

"Absolutely! You don't think you were the only one worried about this guy do you?" Mello slammed down his chop sticks and glared at his partner.

"All the while you were telling me to calm down and not worry about it, you had L bugged?" Matt laughed harder and took a sip of his drink.

"Why do you think I wasn't worried? If he'd said one questionable thing I would've buzzed Watari to be there in just a few seconds. Not to mention you know he was probably monitoring as well." Mello continued to glare and then suddenly just burst into laughter.

"Devious bastard. You better make sure L doesn't find it." Matt nodded as he took another bite.

"No worries. He has no reason to look for one." Mello nodded and picked up his chopsticks, then he looked at Matt's innocent face and burst out laughing again, and Matt joined him.


	13. Chapter 13

World 13

 

Light and L's easy conversations continued through the dinner that Watari brought to them, and afterwards as they went into detail about what was going on with the case over coffee and cake.

Light had noticed several of L's peculiar habits, the way he sat, the way it seemed all he ate was anything that was sweet, and how much sugar he put into his coffee. It almost made Light gag as he watched L continuously dump spoon fulls of sugar into his coffee. He had finally asked him why he put so much sugar in his coffee and was told how the brain uses sugar to work, and that he required more sugar than most people. Light looked again at the slim figure before him and wondered just how damned high his metabolism had to be to burn off that constantly ingested sugar.

He also wondered why L had been so concerned he might have been disappointed once they met. Yes, L was definitely unconventional and so unlike Light himself, but strangely enough that was what he truly found attractive. He could find any good-looking guy anywhere who dressed as he did, totally obsessed with his looks and what the world thought of them. Here was someone who did nothing like that. He was who he was, and he could care less about what they were wearing on Wall Street or anywhere else. He also found his porcelain features unusual and beautiful; what was not to find attractive?

He had discovered over the past couple of years when they worked on cases together that they had many things in common, their shared intelligence a major part of his attraction. He was tired of always having to explain things or dummy down his discussions so that others understood. L was almost always one step ahead of him or exactly on the same page on their shared cases; and when they began to discuss other subjects their thoughts were very close. It was obvious L did not deal with many people, some of his ideas and discussions made it obvious that most of his social knowledge was book learned and not personal experience. It would be fun to bring some of that experience to him.

One thing he also was becoming aware of was his physical attraction to L, and how much he wanted to make love to him. He had wondered if he would feel that way, it wasn't as if they hadn't gotten to know each other over time; this was only their first physical meeting. He found he loved watching L speak, his mouth drawing him in; he watched his long elegant fingers that he found he wanted to know their touch, and he wanted to touch him. He wondered if L would be offended if he made it known what he wanted to do next…well there was only one way to find out.

L had stopped talking long enough to cut off another piece of cake with his fork and bring it up to his mouth when he realized Light was staring at him with a smile on his face.  
"Did I say something amusing?" he asked lowering the fork.

"No, I love how you hold your fork, I've never seen anyone do that before." He answered and then leaned forward and kissed him again. L's eyes went wide with surprise and then slowly closed as he allowed himself to relax into the kiss. He was again surprised when he felt Light's tongue press against his lips. After a moment he realized what it must mean and he opened his mouth and let him enter it. He let a moan escape as Light's warm tongue played with his, and Light gathered him into his arms. Light pulled away from his mouth and began to kiss down his neck, allowing his hands to roam to his chest and down.  
L felt all of his nerve endings going off at once, and it was getting difficult to breathe. The feeling of Light's mouth on his neck as his hands slid down his chest was something he couldn't even begin to put into words; he'd never felt anything like it to compare it to. Suddenly his eyes flew open and he pulled away from Light who looked at him startled.

"What's the matter, am I moving too quickly?" he asked and L's thumb came up to his mouth.

"I am not sure I wish to go where you seem to be going." He said quietly and Light sighed.

"It isn't as if we just met, Ryuzaki we've been having the world's longest foreplay for the past two years!" he said with a grin and L had to smile back.

"Perhaps, but…" Light reached out and stroked L's face with his fingers.

"I don't wish to force you into anything, but I need to tell you how much I want you right now, Ryuzaki." L blushed and looked away, but could feel his own body wanting the same thing.

"I have no experience in these matters, I am not sure whether it is normal for sex when one has just met..."

"Physically only, we've been talking for a long time, I think that counts as knowing each other longer than tonight."

"Did you come here tonight with the intention of having sex with me or did this just cross your mind?" L asked him and Light sighed again and looked at him seriously.

"No, I did not plan to have sex with you tonight from the beginning, how could I? I had no clue what you looked like, if you would actually like me once we met, if seeing each other finally would make things awkward. But since I've been here with you, and spent real time with you, it just felt like it should happen. I'm sorry if I'm being too fast with you." L stared back at him, trying to see if what he was saying was true. He couldn't deny the fact that he wanted Light as well, had been fantasizing about it for quite some time when he had decided he wanted to meet him, but now that the possibility was in front of him, he felt unsure of it. It involved a loss of control and a surrender of himself he wasn't sure he was ready to do.

"This won't work if you're unsure about it at all, I need you to want it as much as I do." Light said finally. L continued to stare at him, his head tilted to the side and his thumb still resting on his mouth. He decided that if he had to think this deeply about it, he wasn't ready.

"I hope this does not offend you in any way Light or cause a problem with our relationship as it is, but I do not feel comfortable with that yet. Please understand that it is not a rejection of you in any way, but just meeting you like this was a very large step for me. I'm afraid anything more right now is just not possible. I am sorry." He told him and looked away; ready to accept whatever Light would say to him. Light reached out and turned L to face him.

"It's fine, Ryuzaki, I don't feel rejected and no it's not going to affect our relationship, I understand. I will wait until you are ready, otherwise there's no point." He leaned forward and gently kissed L again, hoping it would cement what he just said. L stared at him again after the kiss, searching his eyes for proof of what he'd said. He found it in Light's warm smile as well as his eyes and he smiled back.

"Thank you. Now, can I interest you in more coffee?" he asked and Light nodded

"Absolutely, I'm in no rush to leave." Light answered and that put an even bigger smile on L's face.

"Good." L answered and then buzzed for Watari.

Matt finished his cigarette and stepped on it to make sure it was out. Mello reached for a candy bar, a small frown of worry on his features. They were outside of the hotel sitting in the courtyard watching people go by and laughing at most of them.

"Stop worrying, he's fine." Matt said and Mello sighed.

"I know, I'm more worried about him emotionally then physically. It would just kill him if the first time he steps out of the shadows it ends up hurting him." Mello answered taking a bite.

"Yea, I know. But somehow I don't think that's going to be the case." Matt said pulling the earphone out of his ear again with a sly grin. Mello laughed and shook his head.

"I didn't even see you put that thing back, you are a devious bastard!" Matt moved closer to him.

"Yea, but you love it. I think I'll stop now, though, they just got thru what could have been a really ugly moment but they got through it, and Light's moved up in my estimation."

"Why what did he do?" Mello asked snapping another piece of chocolate.

"He wanted a little more than a few kisses, and when L told him he wasn't sure about it, he backed off without question and assured L it was fine. I think that's a good sign." Mello looked surprised and then nodded.

"He does move quickly though, doesn't he?" It was Matt's turn to laugh.

"Well I think he's counting the past couple of years that they've been talking as getting to know each other. But at least he respected L's wishes." Mello nodded again and snorted.

"He should be glad or he'd be picking his balls up off the floor." Matt laughed and agreed.

"Oh yea, that pretty boy face would have a pretty high voice to go with it!" Matt reached over and grabbed Mello's hand with the chocolate in it, brought it to his mouth and took a big bite, laughing at the surprised look on Mello's face.

"Let's go to Watari's room and wait for L to call and tell us to take Prince Charming back home." Matt said while laughing at Mello's face as he looked from the candy bar and back to him again. He leaned over to him and kissed him, pushing his tongue into Mello's mouth, letting him taste the chocolate that was still on his tongue.

"See, you didn't miss much of it." He said and headed back inside.

"Devious bastard." Mello complained and followed him in.

Light had stood up and was looking out at the view from the hotel window as he finished his coffee. L had followed him and was standing next to him, watching his expression as he took in the sight.

"This is a great view, Ryuzaki. This room must be costing you a fortune." He commented, and L shrugged his shoulders.

"Perhaps. I let Watari handle all the details, I don't wish to deal with those types of things."

"He's very important to you, I can see. Matt and Mello, have they been with you long?"

"Yes. They are a special situation which perhaps I may explain to you at a later date."

"All I know is that they're ferociously loyal to you. Even if I had any ulterior motives, I would have changed my mind after meeting them." Light said turning to look at L's profile. Somehow, as corny as it sounded, the moonlight bouncing off of his porcelain skin nearly took his breath away. Unconventional looking he may be, but he was beautiful in his opinion. He looked at his watch and sighed.

"I think I should be going, soon. It's been a long day and I think I hear my bed calling my name," he said smiling.

"Perhaps the next time we meet you won't have to go at all." L said turning to him with a small smile.

"Whenever you're ready, Ryuzaki don't worry about it. Now that I've met you after all this time, you're not getting rid of me that easy." He reached and pulled L to him, his arms wrapping around him.

"That is very good to know," L answered and this time he took the initiative to lean up and kiss Light softly. Light grinned wickedly and returned the kiss but it definitely wasn't gentle. He moved a hand behind L's head and held him in place while he plundered the detective's mouth, his tongue entering his mouth and beating L's tongue into submission as he completely took over him over. L let him take complete control, his eyes closing as he surrendered himself to the kiss. When Light finally pulled away they were both panting for air. Light cleared his throat as his body threatened to betray how turned on he was after that kiss.

"I think I need to leave before I forget myself." He said and they both laughed.

"I'll call Watari and tell him you're ready. I'm afraid the blindfold will be necessary again." L said apologetically and Light nodded.

"I thought as much. I'm very happy you allowed us to finally meet, Ryuzaki, it's worth whatever I have to do. I hope that soon you will trust me enough to not need these precautions." L smiled at him and reached up and carded through Light's hair with his fingers.

"I am sure that will happen very soon. I am also very glad we finally met." Light smiled again and then bent down to kiss L again, but L backed away and walked to the desk  
.  
"I believe we should refrain from any more of that before we both forget ourselves." He said as he walked away. Light laughed behind him as L hit the intercom for Watari, telling him that Light was ready to leave.

"The boys will be in directly, I'll be waiting in the garage." Watari answered and L nodded. Within a few moments Matt and Mello came in, and Matt grabbed the blindfold.

"So did you boys have a good time?" he asked as he walked behind Light and L rolled his eyes.

"Yes, it was most agreeable." he answered anyway and smiled as Light grinned at him.

"Wait just a moment before you put that on." Light suddenly said and walked over to L, "Just one more." He said and quickly kissed L before he could say no. L's face colored slightly as he realized the boys were watching. Matt and Mello looked at each other and grinned.

"I'll call you tomorrow as I work on the case," L said as Matt tied on the blindfold,"

"I expect to hear from L about the case, " Light said, "Will I also hear from Ryuzaki?"

"I'm quite sure Ryuzaki will be in contact with you as well." L said smiling at the now blindfolded Light, "Good night, Light."

"Good night, Ryuzaki." He answered, and Mello took his arm to lead him out of the room to the private elevator.

"We'll be right back, L." he told him, and L nodded as they went out of the door.

L turned and walked back to the window, his hands in his pockets as he stared out into the night. One hand reached up and his fingers rubbed back and forth across his lips, reliving the feel of Light's mouth on his. He already knew how much he cared about Light, it had happened gradually over the time they had been working together, and now that he had been with him it had only cemented his feelings. It appeared that Light felt something for him as well, but he knew what he was doing, L did not. He was blindly going forward, hoping he was doing the right thing and hoping putting his trust in Light wasn't going to turn out to be the wrong thing to do. He sighed and put his hand back in his pocket. After tonight, it didn't matter whether it was the wrong thing to do or not; he needed Light in his life now. There was no turning back, no pretending he didn't feel anything for the young detective. All he could do was continue forward, and he smiled thinking about the possibilities.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Near waited until after the students had left the cafeteria to return to classes before he went down for lunch. He didn't want to stay away from the computer for too long, but he wanted to talk to Jennifer a little more and thought after lunch would probably be his best bet.

He went into the kitchen as he usually did and before he could reach for a plate there was one suddenly in front of him, laden with all the foods that had been available for lunch. Jennifer was holding the plate in front of him, giving him a bright, beautiful smile.

"I wondered where you were. If you were a student here, you know how much these guys eat so I made you a plate and I kept this warm in the oven for you." Near looked at the plate and then looked at her, eyes wide and completely taken by surprise. She looked at his reaction and laughed.

"What's the matter, are you that surprised I did that?" she asked and Near nodded reaching for the plate.

"I am surprised and grateful, thank you Jennifer." He said as he took it.

"You're welcome, but it wasn't really such a big deal." She said still smiling. He smiled back at her and then turned to leave. She reached forward and touched his arm.

"You don't really have to rush back up do you? Couldn't you stay here and eat in the cafeteria? All the children have gone, and besides, I haven't had my lunch yet." She said and reached into the oven removing another plate.

Near stared at the floor, going over in his mind whether he could afford to take the time to eat here and not rush back. After looking back up into her smiling face, he made his decision.

"You're correct, I do not have to rush back. I would be pleased to join you for lunch." He said and headed towards the cafeteria and sat at one of the tables, Jennifer joining him.

"So…what is it exactly that you do that keeps you so busy?" Jennifer asked after a few minutes. Near thought while he took the first bite of his food, deciding exactly what it was he could tell her. Although everyone here knew of L, they didn't know he actually lived and worked here. Most everyone thought the slightly odd looking man with the wild hair was a private teacher named Ryuzaki who ran the criminology department and privately taught certain students and who seemed to have something to do with Mr. Wammy.

"I work with the private criminology teacher who is also somewhat of a private detective in his free time. He's away at the moment, working on a case, so I'm keeping an eye on things while he is gone." Jennifer nodded and smiled.

"Oh, so you must be quite intelligent then if you're working with him. I hear that teacher is quite the braniac and wields a lot of power around here. I think I've seen him a few times here and there, struck me as a bit of an odd ball…no offence. As I remember he doesn't seem to like shoes!" she giggled, "He doesn't say much either."

"No, he stays to himself, mostly. He may seem like an oddball but then so am I so we work together very well." Near demonstrated by sticking his feet out from under the table. Jennifer looked slightly alarmed as she realized that he also wasn't wearing shoes, just socks.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it it's just that he doesn't seem like everyone else around here and he's very rarely around."

"I took no offence. I have always known that I was different from everyone else here and labeled "odd" as well. It is a badge I wear proudly as it eventually led me to being tutored and working with Ryuzaki. Please do not feel I am offended in anyway."

"You don't seem like an oddball to me," Jennifer said smiling again, "Just a little quiet. What do you do for fun?" Near was quiet again wondering if he should tell her truthfully and then decided being honest was the best way to be.

"I collect toys, robots mostly, but all kinds of toys. And before you ask, yes I also play with them," Jennifer's eyes twinkled merrily.  
"Really? That sounds like fun. When you say robots, you mean Gundam’s

and things like that?" Near's eyes widened from surprise, she knew about Gundam’s?

"Yes, I do like those among others. How do you know of them?" Jennifer looked a little embarrassed and stared at her fork for a moment.

"Because my obsession is anime and mangas. I don't really tell people because they always look at me as if I have a problem."

"This I can understand. I no longer care about what others think, and it is also why I, like Ryuzaki, stay to myself. I grew up here, I stayed to myself then as well and was ridiculed quite often for the things I liked to do. I learned not to care."

"If you're anything like me, I think you learned not to think you cared. I know it bothers me if someone makes fun of me for the things I like to do, I just don't let them know it did." Near swallowed and studied Jennifer closely as she looked at her plate. She was right, being ridiculed continued to bother him as he grew up, he just never let on that it did. Once he had been chosen to work with Matt and Mello as heirs to L, he regarded everyone else in the orphanage that bothered him not worth letting them get to him. The only ones that mattered were Matt, Mello and L and even though those two teased him constantly it was not the same. They had a special relationship, they cared about him and he knew they didn't really mean it. Well, sometimes Mello did actually, but then Mello was Mello.  
"You have a point, I learned not to let them think they had bothered me. But after a while it became easier."

Jennifer nodded as she finished her lunch, and then looked at her watch.

"Well, if I don't get back in there soon they'll be looking for me and believe me you don't want them looking for you." She said standing up.

"I can understand, Ryuzaki can be a very exacting task master as well." He agreed standing up as well. They looked at each for a few minutes, both suddenly coloring and then looking at the floor for a few moments. Jennifer was the first to speak.

"Well, thank you for having lunch with me." She said quietly and Near nodded.

"I enjoyed it as well. I must get back before Ryuzaki looks for me, I can guarantee he is worse when angered than your superior." She laughed and picked up both plates.

"Will you be coming down for dinner?" she asked before walking away.

"Yes, I believe I will." He answered and she smiled again.

"Good. I'll make sure I save you a plate." She said, then turned and walked away back into the kitchen. Near stared after her for a few moments then followed through the doors to access the back way to get back upstairs. As he walked past her they smiled at each other, and he continued through.

L frowned as he placed the call to Near a second time and still received no answer. He looked at the time, in England it should be about 1:00 in the afternoon so Near should be there. Mello looked over at him when he heard the exasperated sigh coming from that direction.

"What's the matter, Near not answering?" he asked and L nodded.

"I cannot understand what the problem could be. I am sure everything is set up correctly as we spoke to him earlier and I can't imagine what he could be doing." Mello snickered and turned back to his computer.  
"Well, I have an idea." He said and L turned towards him.

"And that would be?"

 

"Well, the last time I talked with Near he told me he had met someone that had knocked his little white socks off."  
L brought a thumb up to his lips and his head cocked to one side as he tried to understand what Mello meant. Mello looked at him and started laughing at the quizzical look on his face.

"It means that Near met a girl in the kitchen that he found attractive. I imagine he's been having his meals down there instead of bringing them up to your apartment." L continued to stare at Mello as he digested the information.

"I see. Although I can certainly understand being distracted by hormonal impulses, I did not realize that Near had an interest in such things." Mello smirked at him.

"No one thought you did either." He said and L's eyes lowered for a moment and then returned.

"Point taken. I will give him a little more time and then I will call his cell phone." L turned back to his computer when it beeped behind him. He smiled as he realized who the caller was.

"This is L."

"This is Light. I discovered I couldn't sleep without telling you again how much I enjoyed this evening."

"Then this is Ryuzaki, and I also enjoyed this evening." L said and enjoyed the quiet laugh that came through the speakers.

"I am very glad. Now that I have been reassured that you did, I think I can sleep. Good-night, Ryuzaki."

"Good-night, Light." He answered and ended the connection. He was aware of being looked at and turned back to Mello who was looking at him with a big grin on his face.

"The information that Matt learned?" he said, his eyes deadly serious. Mello cleared his throat and clicked a few keys.

"There wasn't a lot to learn from the employee records of each victim, other than they were all very good at their jobs, received their yearly raises, and very sociable. From some of the comments a bit too social sometimes. There were reprimands on each of their records for being office gossips…" he turned and looked at L at the same time L looked at him.

"Strangled and an ear removed…strangled to cut off their being able to gossip…" L began

" And an ear removed because they listened to it as well?" Mello added.

"Then this has to be an act of revenge of someone who was possibly wronged by the gossip spread by these girls?" L worked out, his thumb at his mouth again.

"But that would mean that there is one person who knows all of these victims and apparently a victim to their gossip…"

"And they all knew each other as well to be able to spread whatever hurtful gossip this is."  
"But what kind of gossip could there have been to warrant killing someone, and are there anymore out there that either heard of or knew of this situation and passed it along?" Mello asked scanning the information again.  
"We are dealing with someone who is obviously not well mentally, " L speculated, "They could simply be deluded into thinking these women knew anything or spread anything. "  
"Well there would have to be some reason why the murderer would think so, something about them that is similar besides the fact that they talk too much. Otherwise there would be a mass murder spree that we couldn't keep up with, with all the loudmouths out there!" Mello answered laughing. L continued to stare at the screens, his thumb rubbing back and forth at his lip. His computer beeped again and this time it was Near.  
"I hope you enjoyed your lunch." He said dryly when he connected. There were a few moments of silence before Near answered.

"Well…I did actually. I guess you tried to call while I was out...I'm sorry." Near apologized quietly.

"I am not angry, it is fine. I do not expect you to live your life around that computer waiting for me, although the next time you feel you may be away for a while you should let me know so that I am not concerned for your well-being."

"I understand. I will be having most of my meals away from the computer, but I always have my cell phone if you need me." Near told him and L nodded at the microphone.

"Good. Then you will always be available should I need you. How have you been handling the territory you've been covering?"

"Pretty well considering I'm not physically there. Would you like me to physically take over until you get a replacement?" L shook his head before remembering that Near couldn't see it.

"No, absolutely not. You haven't the experience for being on site and you will only get yourself killed. Continue to keep up with the information flow only, I should have someone out there very shortly, is that understood?"

"Yes, understood. How did your meeting with Detective Yagami go?"

"It went very well, Near. Better than I had suspected it would."

"And how was your lunch, Near!" Mello called over the microphone.

"Also, better than expected. You and Matt enjoying Japan? That is when you leave the hotel?" He answered, and Mello chuckled until L's look silenced him.

"You may compare notes later, I need you to send me what you have acquired so far so I may go over it."

"Right away, L." Near answered and began to do just that. As the information began to appear on L's computer he turned to Mello.

"Why don't you got to bed Mello, I'm going to work on this now, and I wish to speak to Light and the Director to see if they've come to the same conclusions that we have before we can go any further in this case.

"Good-night, and thank you for your help this evening…with everything." Mello saw for a moment the part of L that he always kept hidden from everyone else. He stood up and smiled at him.

"No problem, glad to do it. We think this is a good thing for you as long as Light keeps his act together." L smiled at him.

"I believe Light is honest in his intentions Mello, I don't think you have to worry." Mello nodded as he turned to walk to his bedroom.

"From what I saw, I have to agree with you. Good-night, L." he said and went to join Matt who was already fast asleep on his side in the huge bed. He stood at the foot of the bed for a few moments and gazed at him for a while. He really did hope L and Light worked out, L deserved to love and be loved the way he loved Matt, and how he knew Matt loved him. He got out of his clothes and climbed into bed behind Matt, wrapping his arm around him and burying his nose in the red hair before drifting off to sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Matt woke up first, finding he had to untangle himself from Mello's arms and legs which had completely surrounded him in his sleep. He must have been really tired last night because he hadn't heard the blonde when he came to bed. Jet lag probably had a lot to do with it as well. He yawned and slid out of bed, immediately reaching for his cigarettes on the bed stand. He lit one and took a long drag, letting it fill his lungs before releasing it in one long breath.

There were many things going around in his brain, facts about the case were swirling, trying to make sense of themselves; his happiness and concern over L's blossoming relationship, his and Mello's future. He looked over at the still snoring blonde and smiled. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was his love for Mello and the fact that he would spend the rest of his life with him, no matter what else happened.  
He took another drag of his cigarette and stood up, making his way to the bedroom door and opened it quietly. As suspected L was at the desk, a trolley of sweets by his side and a coffee in his hand. He wondered if L had talked to Light yet, if they had planned another meeting. An idea crossed his mind, an idea that would probably make L feel more comfortable about having Light over again. Perhaps he should talk it over with Mello first, but he was pretty sure Mello wouldn't mind what he had in mind.

He pulled on his jeans, put out his cigarette and went out to see how he was doing. L looked in his direction as he heard the soft sound of bare feet padding on the carpet.

"Good morning," he said smiling, "There's coffee and Danish if you'd like." Matt nodded smiling back.

"I'd definitely love the coffee," he said going to the table where the pot and extra cups were sitting, "Anything else new come up?"

"Mello and I made a few discoveries last evening, I just went over them with Light and he's on his way to their workplaces to get a better idea on exactly how they could have known each other and the murderer enough to make them his or her victims." Matt nodded as he took his first sip of coffee.

"So, what do you need us to do?" he asked and L thought for a moment as his fingers flew across the keyboard.

"I'm going to need you to do some searching for these victims online, perhaps they were all involved in the same chat rooms, or other kind of online social networking where they could have met somehow."  
"Good idea, I'll go shower and get right on it,” Matt said sipping his coffee. “By the way, did you and Light discuss when you would get together again?" L shook his head.

"No time for that this morning, it was all about the case."

"Well, when you do decide, don't worry about Mello and I. We're thinking of getting a separate room from this so you can feel you have more privacy and not have to worry about us being in the way." L looked at him, a thumb coming to his lips as he thought about Matt’s offer.

"I do not want to make you feel you have to do such a thing, Matt. It isn't necessary. I do not want you to think I am pushing you two away." Matt shook his head as he finished his coffee.

"You're not, I just think you'll be more comfortable not having to think about us. I know how important privacy is at a time like this. I want this to have every opportunity to work for you, L."

"Thank you, Matt I appreciate your efforts on my behalf. Let Watari know you wish to find a separate room, he'll make sure you get one."

"I will. Now, I'm going to wake Mello up, shower and get to work on finding what you need to know. I just wanted to let you know what we were thinking." L smiled at him again and nodded before turning his attention back to his computer. Matt smiled back and went back to the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

He looked at how peaceful Mello looked sleeping and a wicked grin crossed his mind. He ran across the room, leapt into the air and landed on the bed beside Mello as hard as he could. The blonde bounced into the air, his arms flailing up and around as his eyes flew open in surprise.

"What the fuck!" he yelled bouncing back down as Matt fell over laughing hysterically.

"Oh my gawd if you could have seen your face!" he sputtered in between giggles. Once Mello got in control of his breathing he leaned over and punched Matt's arm.  
"What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you do that?" he yelled as Matt clutched his arm.

"Because it was funny," he said and looked at his arm that was already beginning to bruise, "Christ Mello it's bruising already!" he complained, and Mello smiled.

"You're lucky I didn't break it, you ass." he told him.

"You're awake aren't you?" Matt said smirking

"Yea, coz you scared the piss out of me!" Matt laughed and lifted the covers.

"Really? Did Mewwo have a wittle accident?" Mello pulled the covers back, reached up and pushed Matt completely off of the bed but it didn't stop his laughter.

"God why are you being such an asshole this morning!" Mello complained finally getting out of bed as Matt picked himself off of the floor.

"Come on you know you love me," Matt said moving closer to Mello.

"Not when you act like this!"

"It was funny, and you know it." Matt said when he was nose to nose with the complaining blonde. Mello glared at him and slowly Matt saw the humor start to show in those blue eyes.

"Okay, now that I've had time to calm down…it was pretty fuckin funny." And then he started laughing as he reached around and put his arms around Matt.

"You see, I knew you'd realize how funny it really was." Matt said as their faces got closer.

"Yea, it was. But I definitely owe you one." Mello said as he brought his lips in kissing distance to Matt, "And payback starts...now!" he said and instead of kissing Matt he put his hand over his face and pushed him backwards. Matt went flying backwards and fell into the bed.

"Now that was funny." Mello said laughing and headed for the bathroom, locking the door behind him. "And no coming in while I shower!" he yelled through the door as Matt picked himself back up off the bed. He grinned at the closed door, this was going to be a fun day.

An hour later they were both in the main room with L, Matt on his laptop and Mello at L's side following up on his thoughts from the night before. L had gotten up and was pacing in front of the window, pausing for a moment to look at the skyline and then beginning to pace again.

"Do we think there will be another victim, L?" Mello asked as he watched L move back and forth across the carpet. L stopped pacing long enough to unwrap a cherry lollipop.

"Yes and no. I am not looking for another; the established pattern has already passed. I believe our killer has done what he set out to do and now he or she is done and is going to continue along as if nothing has happened."

"Until someone else pisses them off." Matt added and L nodded as he popped the candy into his mouth.

"That is correct. Now that he has established that he can kill with impunity, that will be the way he fixes all of his problems from now on. So, although I do not expect another victim in this scenario, I am sure there will be others in the future for other reasons."

"How is it they can kill without leaving any clues? Without any witnesses?" Mello asked in frustration as he searched the crime scene pictures again for anything at all.

"All three victims were found in their homes, no signs of struggle, no signs of forced entry…" L began

"Which means they knew their killer and they let them in or the killer was already in the apartment when they arrived which also means they had to have had access so in either case, the killer was a trusted person to the victim."

"This person also had to be someone who was known in the building to not call attention to themselves by the neighbors. None of them saw anything or heard anything unusual, no one stood out to them. No one can remember seeing the victims with anyone around the times of death."

"That on its own is not unusual, Matt. People tend to mind their own business these days, tend not to want to see anything and keep to themselves," L said, "So there could have been someone different with these victims, but they wouldn't know."

"Yea, the days of neighbors knowing each other and looking out for each other don't exist anymore." Mello added as he zoomed in on the crime scene picture he had on the screen.

"The ligature marks around the neck are from the wire used to strangle, there aren't any fingerprints on the body at all. Gloves had to be used to leave such a clean site." He said as he stared at the pictures.

"Yes, and the ear removed after death and the instrument used left with the killer." L said looking over Mello's shoulder. Mello pointed at the close up of the area where the ear used to be.

"Looking at how it was removed, it's too clean a cut, it had to be a razor or a scalpel of some sort instead of a regular knife."

"Yes, all of this we know and have known. There is a fourth person out there who knew all three somehow and somehow all three knew each other, although they don't seem to have socialized with each other, worked with each other, they didn't attend the same schools…so how did they know each other in order to cause the killer so much distress that murdering them was the only answer for them?" His computer beeped and L sat down in front of it, connecting the lollipop.; reaching for a loll

"This is L."

"L, this is Light. I have finished working their three places of employment and I don't have that much to show for it."

"What did you learn?" L asked around his lollipop.

"Only that each one of them was very friendly, popular and especially around the water cooler?"

"The water cooler?" L echoed and Matt laughed.

"It means they were big talkers. In offices people congregate around the water cooler for quick breaks and office chat. Apparently, as we discovered earlier, these three were apparently really good at that." L nodded his understanding.

"And their talent cost them their lives. Light, there is not a fourth person that was known to all three that those they worked with could collaborate on?"

"No, because they were never seen together, they don't appear to have socialized at all with each other, I tried every avenue to link them and then link someone else with them. I keep going around in circles and getting absolutely nowhere."

"Light, this is Mello..." there was the sound of a chuckle over the microphone.

"What have I done now?" he asked and Mello laughed.

"Nothing…yet anyway. Have you put into the mix that they were all killed on a Thursday evening?"

"I have. I discovered that all three seemed to have some kind of date or get together of some sort on those evenings before they were found dead. I have been trying to ascertain exactly where it was they were before their deaths and if they were together, but that doesn't seem likely."

"Do we know if it were just those Thursdays or did they have something they went to each and every Thursday?" L asked suddenly and Light was quiet for a moment.

"That has not surfaced in anything I've looked into, but I can chase that down," he said.

"Do so, that could be where our killer comes in. Perhaps they all go to the same place every Thursday night, that could explain a few things."

"Maybe. If that is true then we can start checking who else goes that same place each Thursday." Light added.

"Then that is your next step, Light. I want to hear what you have found this afternoon."

"Okay, I'll get right on it and talk to you later, L."

"Good." L answered and broke the connection, "Have you found anything that links the victims together, Matt?" he asked and Matt shook his head.

"I've tried to cross reference each of their interests to try and see if there's any one thing that they have in common, but if they do they've hidden it really well."

"I believe this is the case. There is something they have in common that they didn't want the world to know. What kind of things would they want to hide? I want you to think what people would want to hide, and yet share with others."

Matt stopped for a moment, the wheels clicking in his head as he ran over in his mind ideas that would fit that criteria. Suddenly his eyes lit up and he turned to L.

"Any kind of addiction, alcohol, drugs, over eating. People hide these things but they often go to meetings to try to control it. Alcoholics Anonymous, for one." L nodded, a smile on his face.

"Very good. Didn't take you very long at all. You know what to do next." Matt took in that smile from L as if it were a shot of adrenaline and began the search for such meetings that would get together on a Thursday night.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Light dialed L's number excitedly. He had found what the three victims had in common and he had to tell L right away. Although he was fairly sure that L had also probably figured it out, he wanted to let him know that he had figured it out as well.

While interviewing co-workers, one particularly giggly secretary had let it slip that she wasn't surprised that the victim was dead, she expected it at any time with some of the people she hung out with when she was drunk, which was practically every night. He then began to wonder if the other two were also heavy drinkers. Perhaps that was where the commonality lay; they weren't friends, but perhaps they hung out in the same bars, drinking buddies of some sort, and no one outside of the bars would know they knew each other.

He remembered that all three had been murdered on Thursday; perhaps that was the day the three got together at whatever bar they all seemed to frequent. The first thing he had done after that was try to get a corroborating story from the other two offices; that the other two had been known for their drinking. Unfortunately, no one who worked with either of the two victims mentioned any drinking, if anything just the opposite. He then spoke to their managers, and upon threat of a warrant to take all of their files; he finally learned that both of them had been in danger of losing their jobs due to missing many days of work, which was linked to drinking.

Light hadn't read any of that in their files that he had obtained before, and when he had questioned that he was told that kind of information was stricken from their records when they took the step to rehabilitate themselves. As long as they continued it would stay off of their records. When he asked what kind of rehabilitation they had been doing, both offices told him that the victims had been going to weekly meetings and that it seemed to be working.

Light then ran to his car, dialing L's number as he slid in behind the wheel. He had found it, the three were meeting members, that's where they all got together and undoubtedly that was where the murderer also was. All he had to find out was where the meetings had been.

"I was hoping to hear from you Light, we have made a few discoveries." L's soft monotone resonated in his ear; and now that he could put a face and body to that voice, hearing it warmed him even more than it had begun to recently when he realized he had been developing feelings for the reclusive detective, without ever actually meeting him.

"I have made a few myself. I have discovered what our victims have in common." L paused before telling him that he had figured it out as well.  
"What have you discovered?" he asked first.

"They're all alcoholics attending meetings on Thursday nights!" Light answered excitedly, and L smiled into the microphone.

"Excellent work Detective Yagami. I had just come upon that same revelation, although we were running down all types of meetings, as we had no proof exactly which addiction they shared. I assume you discovered this through diligently running down clues and conducting interviews?"

"Yes, talking to co-workers and supervisors. When did you discover it?"

"It came to me as I was going over the information I already had; and I allowed my associates to work it out for themselves as sort of an exercise."

Light leaned against the car seat and smiled in satisfaction. He had come up with the same conclusion as L. They had been working together long enough to be able to come up with the same answers at almost the same time; this had to be a good omen for the personal side of their relationship.

"So, Matt and Mello are learning from the master," he said, "They will make you excellent assistants I'm sure."

"They already are excellent assistants," L said glancing at both, "They have found the location and time of the meetings they were attending."

"That's great, because I wasn't looking forward to running that down after everything else I've done today. Perhaps you could give me the information and as tomorrow is Thursday I will attend this meeting myself." L thought a moment and then suggested something else.

"Perhaps you might think about meeting with me and we could go over our information at that time." Light had been about to make the same suggestion and was pleased L came up with it first.

"I think that's an excellent idea. Will Matt and Mello meet me as they did before?" L's thumb came to his lips as he thought. He looked to Matt and Mello for a moment and then made his decision.  
"No. I believe I can tell you where I am, I feel I can trust you with this information."

"L are you sure? You've only met him once!" Mello asked and Matt nodded his agreement.

"L if they don't feel right about it, I have no qualms about being brought there as I was before. Whatever is safest for you is fine with me." Light said as he heard the question over the phone.

"No, I feel confident that I have nothing to fear from you, Light. I am in the Presidential suite of the Mandarin Oriental on Chuo Dori. You will have to take the elevator directly to the lobby on the 38th floor. Call when you are there, you will be met there and brought up to the suite."

"Wow, no wonder that suite was so phenomenal, that's in the Nihonbashi district if I'm not mistaken. Okay, what time would you like me there?" L looked at the ornate clock sitting on the mantle.

"About an hour would be acceptable. We can have dinner again if that is agreeable to you."

"I would love it, L. I'll be there in an hour, and thank you for your trust in me, I can assure you it's not misguided."

"I am sure it is not, Light. I will see you in an hour, then." He broke the connection and looked at his two heirs who were still staring at him in surprise."Is there a problem?" he asked and Matt shook his head.

"Not really, I guess, L. We're just a little surprised you did that so quickly."

"We have physically met once, but we have been creating this relationship over two years. Unless I lowered my guard somewhat and trusted him we would be continually dancing around each other. He took the first step in allowing himself to be blindfolded and shuttled around without any proof of what he was getting into, I needed to take the second step and so I have. Please do not feel you cannot join us when he arrives, we need to go over everything we have on the case and what the next step will be. He wants to infiltrate the meeting tomorrow night, I am thinking he will need some kind of back up."

Matt and Mello looked at each other with large grins coming to both of their faces. L was going to trust them with shadowing Light.

"That's fine with us, L. We've done that kind of work in New York, we know what we're doing." Mello said, and L nodded.

"I have no doubt. Why don't you take a break right now, I need to check with Near and then go over a case with Watari that I'm doing under Eraldo Coil." They both nodded and stood up, stretching. They had been sitting at the computers for hours with only a small break for lunch. They realized that L had already figured out what he needed to know but was allowing them to figure it out on their own for which they were grateful. Mello was riding on a high of working with L and being able to hold his own, as was Matt, but for Mello it meant more.

He had always been second to Near in everything, even when it came to working with L, but he had finally been able to prove his worth and abilities to L and nothing could have made him happier. He looked over at Matt as the redhead stretched his back, well nothing except continuing to mess with Matt. He'd continue to get him back for his rude awakening this morning. So far, he had kept any and all romantic contact away from him and would continue to do so until he drove Matt crazy. Matt walked over to him and grabbed his hand.

"Why don't we check out our new room?" he said smiling and Mello nodded, withdrawing his hand from Matt's and running it through his hair.

"Sure. Even though I wasn't consulted about getting a new room in the first place." He said walking towards the door.

"Well, I knew you'd agree with me and would probably enjoy a little privacy yourself." Matt said following.

"Yea, maybe." He answered as the went out of the door. Matt looked at him from behind with a smirk. He knew what Mello was up to, but he was sure he could persuade him to change his mind.

Near jumped when the computer beeped at him, he had fallen asleep in front of the computer screen. He looked at the clock, it was 1:00 am, which meant is only about 5:30 in the evening where L was. Near had been waiting to hear from the new contact L had sent to replace the one he had fired to give him some new information before he turned in.

"This is Near." He said stifling a yawn and he could hear L chuckle through the connection.

"Up past your bed time?" he asked.

"Not really, just bored waiting for your new contact to reach me."

I see. If you don't hear within the hour you go to bed and I will contact him myself. He should have been in contact by now."

"Perhaps he's unable to, L. I haven't contacted myself for fear of compromising his position."

"This is a point, however, my orders still stand. You are not me, you cannot be up for hours on end without rest."

"I will go to bed in an hour whether or not I have heard from him. I will let you know either way."

"That would be appreciated."

"Have you reached any conclusions on your case?"

"Yes, I feel completion is imminent. I will be meeting with Light later this evening to try to finalize some plans or narrowing down who our suspect is. I don't expect it to take too much longer."

"That's great, L, but not unexpected."

"Do not forget that you laid a great deal of the ground work for this case." L reminded him and Near smiled at the microphone.

"Don't worry, I won't let Mello forget it either." he said and then yawned again.

"I will leave you to get your rest, Near. Excellent job on keeping up with the information flow, but I expected no less. Good-night."

"Good-night, L. Thank you." Near said and signed off. He decided to go lie down on the couch. That way he could take a nap and if the contact beeped he could still hear it. Besides, he needed to make sure he got enough sleep to make sure he was up and ready for breakfast. He smiled to himself as he made his way over to L's couch, definitely had to be ready for breakfast.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Light arrived at L's hotel and stood in front of it for a few moments before going in. Last night he had no idea where he was, and now that he was standing in front of the majestic building, he was not surprised this is where L chose to stay. It was well known for its security and privacy for their special guests, something that L would definitely want. It had two separate lobbies, one for the regular patrons, and the one on the 38th floor for the special patrons.

He took the elevator up to the 38th floor and as the doors slid open it didn't take him long to locate Matt and Mello sitting at one of the tables in the lounge, two drinks in front of them. He walked over and sat down next to them, smiling.

"Hey, how are you guys tonight?" he asked and they both nodded and smiled back at him.

"We're great, Light. Would you like a drink before we go up?" Matt asked and Light thought a moment.

“Actually, that might not be a bad idea, it will give me a few moments to talk with you without being at gunpoint." He said and Mello chuckled waving over the waitress. Light ordered a glass of white wine, and when it arrived, he sat back in the chair and looked at both young men.

"I know that both of you still have some...reservations about me and the relationship I want to have with…Ryuzaki. Now is the time if you want to ask me anything." He said and took a sip as he waited for their response. Mello was the first to jump on the opportunity.

"What worries us the most is exactly what kind of relationship you want with him. You know this is the first time he's ever ventured out to do something like this, and it would be horrific if the first time he does, he ends up getting hurt by it. It also wouldn't be too healthy for you, either. We just want to make sure that you aren't going to just run off once you feel you've attained what you're after. Ryuzaki deserves much more than that." Light put down his glass and leaned forward, his auburn eyes boring directly into Mello's blue ones.

"Let me tell you this, right now. I already care a great deal for Ryuzaki, and I can only imagine that it will only grow the more time we spend together. I want a serious relationship with him, he is the only person I have met who meets me on every level imaginable, and over and above in some cases. I feel I can relax with him, and be myself because I don't have to explain anything to him or pretend to be something I'm not. I am hoping that he feels the same way, because to tell you the truth, he isn't the only one who's laying everything on the line for this." Mello found Light's gaze was almost as compelling as L's and he could see the truth and emotion of his words in them. He nodded slightly and looked at Matt.

"That's all we really wanted to know, Light. Ryuzaki is the most important person in the world to us and we will do anything to protect him." Light nodded and smiled.

"Yes, I realize that. I believe I am ready to say the same. "

"Have you thought of how you're going to handle this extremely long-distance relationship? It's not really our business I guess, but we were wondering." Matt asked quietly and Light sighed, wrapping his hands around his glass.

"That is something we will have to work out, once I am sure he wants this as much as I do. Obviously one of us will have to compromise and move. I am sure neither one of us wishes to give up what we enjoy doing with our lives, but I'm sure something can be worked out. If nothing else, wherever it is he lives must have a police department. I am not against relocating as long as I can continue my line of work."

"Or you could just work with him. I'm sure that would be an opportunity you wouldn't get elsewhere." Matt suggested and Light thought a moment and nodded.

"That would definitely be an amazing opportunity, to work with him on his fantastic cases. That would ultimately be up to him of course. This is all premature, I'm not even sure he wants to be that serious. I know I do, I know I've thought of all kinds of possible scenarios," he looked at the two young men, "Am I believed?"

Matt lit a cigarette and took a long drag before releasing the smoke from his lungs. He looked at Mello who nodded and then turned to Light, a big grin on his face.

"Absolutely, Light. I can honestly say we both believe every word you've said." Light took a large sip of his wine and sighed heavily.

"I'm glad, thank you. So now I can stop worrying about being shot anytime soon?" Matt and Mello both laughed and nodded.

"For now anyway," Mello said, "Just keep your nose clean." They all laughed, any uncertain feelings now draining away. Anyone who was willing to be that open and honest with them when they really didn't have to, made them both feel better.

"I'd suggest that now we finish up and take you up to his room," Matt said, "Before he starts wondering what's happening. He doesn't like to be kept waiting." Light finished his wine and stood up.

"This I know, I've run into his impatience a few times before. His bark is definitely as bad as his bite." They laughed again, Matt and Mello finished their drinks, and headed for the elevator.

L finished his coffee just as the door opened to his suite, and the boys walked in, followed by Light. He was unnerved by the feeling that swept through him as their eyes met, feeling again that he had forgotten how to breathe for just a moment.

"Good, you met up with no problems." He said when he found his voice.  
"Yes, and we had a great conversation," Light said resisting the urge to take L into his arms, "I hope we didn't keep you waiting." L shook his head as he gestured for Light to sit down on the sofa.

"Not at all, I was thinking strategies for attaining information from the meeting tomorrow evening." He sat down next to Light, his legs drawn up and his hands resting on his knees. Light tried not to show how amused he was at the way L sat, he thought it was adorable although he still couldn't understand how it made him think better.

"I was toying with two ideas, to go in as the detective I am and get the attendance sheets for those three Thursdays as part of the ongoing investigation, or to infiltrate it as a member myself and try to get to know our killer."

"I was thinking the same scenarios, but I believe it would be best if you go as you are, let our killer know we've centered on the meetings. Undoubtedly it will rattle him or her into doing something foolish we can catch them at."

"Matt and I will be your back up, just in case someone wants to follow you when you leave." Mello said and Light nodded.

"I think I agree with this scenario, Ryuzaki. Hopefully you're right in that it should rattle someone that we've managed to trace them to these meetings." L nodded and they discussed exactly what the plan would be, and how the boys would work the surveillance. He called Watari and asked for his assistance as well, knowing full well how excellent he was with firearms, and especially a high-powered rifle.

Once everyone knew their roles and how it would play out, Watari left and had dinner delivered to his adjoining room, and then brought it out to them. While the others marveled at the grilled Japanese beef dish with fresh vegetables and all the amenities one could ask for, L's eyes saw only the chocolate fondue surrounded by fresh fruit. Light watched L's eyes light up as he reached for the largest strawberry on the dish and dipped it in the warm, rich chocolate, and then close in pure ecstasy as he took the first bite. He then looked at the other two who were also watching L's reaction, their grins almost as large as L's as they watched him, their deep affection for the detective in plain sight.

"L, can I try one?" Mello asked reaching towards the fondue dish, knowing full well what the answer was going to be and laughing when L pulled the dish away from him, a frown on his face.

"I'm sure your dinner is more than sufficient." He said grumpily and Light nearly choked on his beef trying not to laugh at the pout that had formed on L's face. Here was a side he hadn't seen and was enjoying.

"You're lucky he didn't stick the fondue fork in your hand," he said and Matt burst out laughing himself.

"You do know him better than I thought!" he said as L glared at them both, hands wrapping around the fondue dish, which only made the three of them laugh more.

After coffee and large pieces of caramel cake, Matt and Mello excused themselves to go their room.

"We will go over the plan again tomorrow and it would probably be a good idea if you took a practice run over to the area to mark out all streets and exits and entrances to the building." L told them as they went to the door.

"Good idea, we'll do that early. Good night." Mello said opening the door.

"Yea, good night. Don't do anything we wouldn't do—which of course leaves you wide open to practically everything!" Matt called as he followed Matt out of the door. L looked at Light, a slight blush highlighting his pale skin.

"I apologize for their exuberance." He said as Light put down his coffee cup and stood up, walking over to the L's chair.

"No need to apologize, I love their exuberance." He said, his fingers reaching over to brush some cake crumbs from L's face, "You're such a messy eater." He said as he did so. L's blush grew as he realized how much he enjoyed Light's touch to his face. Then his eyes widened as Light's fingers moved his face in his direction, then leaned down and kissed him gently.

"I've been waiting all night to do that," Light told him and L nodded.

"I have to admit that I've been doing the same." He said making Light smile and lean forward to do it again. This time he put his hand behind L's head and held him steady as he kissed him harder, his tongue seeking entrance to L's mouth. L opened his mouth and welcomed Light's tongue in, allowing him complete access and control over his own, unable to control the moan that escaped, his hands reaching up to Light's hair. Light released L's mouth and smiled at him, running his fingers through the wild raven colored hair.  
"Kissing you is like having dessert all over again," he said and L laughed.

"I hope that isn't a problem." He said and Light shook his head as he pulled L from the chair.

"Oh no, not at all. As a matter of fact, at least I get a taste of what that fondue was like." L snorted and his slightly up tilted nose lifted into the air.  
"I see, so you only want me for my chocolate." He said and Light chuckled at him.

'Yes, exactly, I only want you for your chocolate." He reached down and took the hand L had been using to dip the fruit into the chocolate, and as he suspected there was chocolate on his fingers. He lifted the hand and put one of the fingers into his mouth, his tongue licking around the digit, sucking it deeper into his mouth, his eyes looking directly into L's. L's breath caught in his throat as he stared back into Light's eyes, feeling the warmth of his mouth and tongue all over his finger and knowing full well that Light was offering him an idea of what he wanted to do to another area of his body; that area that was beginning to respond quite uncomfortably. He was quite glad his jeans were baggy or it would have been quite obvious just how aroused he was getting.

Light finished with one finger and moved on to the next, making L's eyes close and his entire body tremble with want and need for that mouth and tongue to be elsewhere. Yet he was still so unsure if he was ready to go further, no matter what his body was telling him.

Light released L's finger and began to loosen his tie and removed it from around his neck. He had slipped off his suit jacket earlier at dinner. He reached for L and pulled him against him, their hips meeting and L could feel that he wasn't the only one who was aroused at the moment. He felt himself blush again and looked away, unable to meet the smoldering auburn eyes. He felt Lights fingers against his cheek, moving him to face him again.

"I need you to look at me, L. I need you to see how much I care for you, how much I want you. Let me show you how much I do." He whispered and attacked L's mouth again, as he slowly moved their hips together. L moaned into the kiss, his nerve endings on fire as Light moved against him. He suddenly pulled away from the kiss and backed away from Light, staring at the floor.

"Light I...I don't know if I'm ready for this." He said quietly and Light sighed but made no move towards him.

"You know I'm not going to push you if you're not ready, but what do you need from me to help you make a decision. Any assurance I can give you…" L shook his head and raised his face to Light, who was startled to see distress in the large dark eyes.

"You've given me all the assurance I need, it isn't you. It's me. I've never…this is all new to me and I'm afraid of this complete surrender. I don't know what I should do." Looking at L's distress made Light realize just how difficult this w as for L, and he closed the distance between the two of them, slowly reaching for L's hand.

"Answer me two questions, do you care about me? Do you want this?"

"I don't remember ever wanting anything more, Light, yes to both questions."

"Then trust me," Light said smiling and took L's hand, "Stop thinking of it as a surrender, it isn't. You're sharing yourself with someone who wants to do the same with you, you're not giving up anything, you're in as much control of this as I am, even more. It is completely up to you what happens next and no matter what you decide, I'm still going to be here. I'll need to take a cold shower, but I'll be here."  
L stared up into the attractive face of the person he knew he was falling so deeply for and all he could see there was caring, tenderness and need. He reached up with his free hand and stroked Light's face. He nodded smiling, then leaned forward and kissed him reinforcing his answer. Light kissed him back passionately, moaning his own need into the kiss, which just inflamed L's need even more. Someone wanted him in every way possible, it wasn't something he ever entertained happening and now that it was happening, the knowledge was arousing him even more.

"The bedroom?" Light asked and L turned and led him towards it. Light stopped suddenly and ran back to his jacket, fished around in his pocket and removed something before returning to L's side. L looked confused and looked in his hand, his blush reappearing as he realized it was lube.

"You were that certain of your success?" he asked and Light laughed shaking his head.

"Not at all, but I believe in being prepared for all possibilities. Hey, it's strawberry flavored!" he added, and L rolled his eyes, his blush getting deeper as he led Light into his bedroom.

Light closed the door behind them and marveled at the view of the city through the huge picture window in the room. He held L against him as he looked at it.

"That's quite a romantic view," he said as he nuzzled L's neck, his hands slowly reaching underneath the white cotton shirt. L's eyes closed as the combination of Light's hands under his shirt against his cool skin and his warm mouth against his neck.

"I never noticed." He managed to say as Light began to push him towards the bed. His knees bent as they hit the back of the bed and he sat down as Light found his mouth again. As he kissed him, he reached the hem of L's shirt and began to pull it up. He released his mouth long enough to pull the shirt over his head and toss it aside. He admired the thin but well-toned chest and taut abdomen.

"Look what you've been hiding under that baggy shirt, what a crime!" he said causing L to blush yet again. He pushed L so that his head was closer to the headboard and then straddled him as he began to kiss down his chest taking delight in the delicious sounds the detective was making as he worked.

"Light….." L called out as Light took in one of nipples, licking and then sucking on it. When he bit down lightly on it, L grabbed the edges of the bed, moaning softly. Light then worked his way to the other nipple and did the same thing, receiving intense pleasure watching L writhing beneath him.

He stood up and removed his clothes, hanging them on a nearby chair, careful to retrieve the lube from his pocket.

L watched, getting more excited as each piece of clothing left his body, marveling at the well-toned, tanned body before him. Light crawled back on the bed, kissed down L's body until he got to the top of his jeans. He felt L stiffen as he began to undo them and push them past his hips.

"Relax, L it's okay." He whispered as he pulled the jeans down the rest of the way and off. He could see L blushing furiously, his eyes shut tightly, his hands trying to cover himself. He grabbed L's hands and moved them from his body, crawling back up to L's face.

"Open your eyes and look at me, L." he whispered, and L did so, his blush so strong he could see it in the low light of the room. "You have nothing to be ashamed of, or embarrassed for. You are beautiful, I'm loving every part of you." He said as L's eyes opened and he looked up at him. Light kissed him as his hands began to slowly slide down L's body, eventually reaching L's straining cock. L moaned under Light's kiss as he began to slowly stroke him, his hand slowly going up and down L's length. L's hips began to move against Light's hand, his whole body on fire with feelings he had never experienced before. Light released his mouth and began to suck at his neck, nipping and licking as he increased the pace of his stroking. L was repeating his name over and over again as he felt himself rushing headlong into his orgasm. Light could feel it too and he didn't want him to come quite yet, so he stopped stroking as he slid down L's body, smiling at the slight whimpering that came from L as he stopped. He then slowly took L into his mouth, taking him as deeply into his throat as he could.

L stopped breathing when Light had taken him into the warmth of his mouth. His hands clutched the bed covers as the most amazing feelings he hadn't even imagined assaulted his senses. He didn't even try to hide the groans of pleasure Light's mouth was giving him, his very skin was tingling. Light slowly increased his pace, knowing that L was probably very close to climaxing. He sucked harder, his tongue dipping into the slit and licking around the tip before he swallowed him. L cried out at the sensation and felt the ball of fire in his abdomen begin to grow hotter.

"Light…I can't…I'm going to…" he sputtered unable to finish the sentence, but Light knew what he was trying to say. He took a moment to squirt some of the strawberry lube onto his fingers, and began to slowly insert one into L.

L jumped at the sudden intrusion, wincing a little at the burning sensation as Light went deeper. The intense pleasure he was getting from Light's mouth overpowered what ever discomfort he was feeling and as Light began to move his finger back and forth, it began to add to the pleasure. After a few moments, Light began to add a second finger, as he licked around L's cock, hoping to distract him. L grimaced slightly as the second finger moved in, beginning to feel the discomfort. Light stopped for a moment and concentrated only on his mouth, humming around L's cock sending brand new sensations. L suddenly felt the ball of fire move and he knew it was only a few moments before he would explode into Light's mouth. He tried to warn him but couldn't form words coherently as Light held massaged his balls and sucked harder. Suddenly there was white lightening going off behind his eyes and his entire body convulsed as he came hard, spilling powerfully into Light's mouth, nearly screaming Light's name. Light took it all, L's warm essence going down his throat, his fingers still deep inside L as his body convulsed around him.

He kissed along L's abdomen as L began to come down, holding his hand at the same time with his free hand. He began to continue to move his two fingers inside of L at the same time, taking advantage of L's relaxed state before introducing the third finger. He reached up and attacked L's mouth as he began to insert the third finger. L cried out against his mouth at this last intrusion, the burning beginning again as he went deeper, stretching opening a bit wider.

"Try to relax," he whispered against L's mouth as he felt L tense up around his fingers, "Give it a few more minutes and it's going to feel wonderful." He promised and L nodded, his eyes squeezed shut.

A few minutes moments later Light was true to his word as he found L's prostate causing L's eyes to fly open and he cried out again, this time in sudden ecstasy. Light continued to assault his prostate while flexing his fingers, getting those tight muscles to relax and expand as much as possible. L had begun to move down against Light's thrusting fingers, enjoying the feel of them inside of him. Light kissed him again and slowly withdrew his fingers, causing L to whimper with their loss and Light smiled down at him.

"I think you're ready for me now" he said and L swallowed and nodded slowly.

"As ready as I'll ever be." He said smiling, carding through Light's sweat dampened hair. Light kissed him and then sat back, squirting the lube into his hand and then applying it to his own cock, and then applying a little more to L's opening. He positioned himself and began to slowly push himself past the tight ring of muscles. L took a deep breath and gritted his teeth against the pain as Light pushed forward into him, the burning almost becoming unbearable as Light went deeper. Light felt L tremble against him and cry out in pain and he stopped to allow L a few moments to adjust.

"Are you okay?" he asked and L nodded, "I know this is the hard part, but it gets so much better." He whispered and leaned forward to kiss him again, then began the final push until he was completely inside. L felt as if he were going to split in two, but at the same time he felt a special kind of warmth at being joined with Light. He took a deep breath and tried to relax as Light waited for him to adjust. After a few minutes he nodded, he wanted more and he wanted it now.

Light kissed him again and slid almost completely out of L, and then slowly pushed back in. L groaned and wrapped his arms around Light as he began to move slowly in and out of him, and found himself rocking his hips against Light in time. Sooner than he expected he went from being in pain to near ecstasy as Light increased his speed slowly, and hitting his prostate with every thrust in.

He threw his head back against the pillow as Light increased the speed of his thrusts once he knew L was ready. Light groaned his own pleasure as he was surrounded by L's tight heat, the muscles holding tight to him as he thrust causing him delicious friction that was nearly driving him insane.

Light almost couldn't believe he was finally with the one person he had been dreaming about for almost two years. No one had even come close to what he had with L, and that was without meeting him and now he had been everything he had hoped he'd be, and he was with him in every way possible. He closed his eyes and let himself surrender to the sensations coursing through his body, and knowing he was bringing pleasure to L.

L was now meeting Light's speed and thrusts, his body beginning to tremble his ecstasy and he cried out again as Light began to stroke his new erection in time with his thrusts. The room was filled with the moans and soft cries of passion, neither one holding back.

L felt that ball of fire begin to move again; at about the same time that Light could feel his own orgasm racing towards him. He felt L tremble beneath him, his breathing getting more shallow as he pulled Light tighter against him.

Light's thrust began to get erratic as L's muscles tightened around him as his orgasm roared through him, and the power of it making him dig his nails into Light's back and cry out his name. Light followed right behind him as L's muscles nearly milked it from him, his entire body shaking from the force of it and making him lose the strength in his arms and fell on top of L's still trembling body.  
He held L to him tightly, their sweat-covered bodies sliding against each other as they tried to regain control of their breathing and their trembling bodies. He moved unruly damp hair from L's face and smiled down at him, his emotions nearly getting the best of him as he stared into the dark eyes that were searching his.

"I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did." He finally said and L nodded slowly.

"It was amazing, Light, I've never experienced anything like this."

"Please don't laugh when I tell you this but, I think I love you, L." Light said and L reached up and touched his face.

"Why would I laugh when I believe I feel the same way?" he answered and Light kissed him deeply, and then held him against his chest.

"Thank God. I thought you're logical mind would tell me it was too soon."

"Perhaps in a normal situation it would be, but we have been in almost daily contact for over two years, this isn't us just meeting for the first time. I couldn't have done this with someone I just met."  
"And now that you have?" Light asked.

"I have found something that makes me feel better than eating chocolate cake…although just barely." L said laughing and Light raised an eyebrow.

"Just barely? I have to try harder then." He said and kissed him. When he released him he held L against his chest.

"Thank you for trusting me," he said and L nodded, his eyes closing in exhaustion.

"Hmmmm, you're welcome." L mumbled as he began to fall asleep. Light looked down at him and felt his affection for this odd detective warm him. He leaned over and kissed the sweat-dampened hair and closed his own eyes in satisfied and happy exhaustion, a smile still on his face as he slipped into sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Mello followed Matt to their new room, thinking up ways to drive Matt crazy without losing his own mind in the process. Matt on the other hand was planning to do the same thing, but on a different level.

"So, what do you think is happening now with them?" Mello asked closing the door behind him. Matt dropped the keycard on the desk and walked back over to Mello.

"Probably a bit of this..." he said kissing Mello's lips, "Probably a bit of this…" he added, nibbling on Mello's ear and nipping his ear lobe, "Probably more of this though..." he added licking down Mello's neck and sucking slowly. Mello tried to think of ice cream and cold showers as his eyes closed and his body began to respond to Matt's attentions. He had to think of something quick or he was going to lose this battle way too easily. He pushed Matt away and walked towards the television and turned it on.

"Yea, you're probably right, they're adults I guess they know what they're doing. Wanna watch some tv?" Matt put his hands on his hips and sighed. This was going to be a bit more difficult than he thought.  
"Sure, why not. You want something out of the bar?" he asked walking over to it and opened it, surveying the various bottles on the shelf.

"You pick something, you know what I like." Mello called to him, climbing on the bed and stretching out against the headboard. Matt found a couple of bottles of Godiva chocolate liqueur and pulled them out. He found ice in the small refrigerator and two glasses. There was something to be said for luxury rooms, you certainly wanted for nothing. He poured the two drinks and walked over to the bed and handed a glass to Mello who nodded his thanks and turned his attention back to the TV, taking a sip.

Matt put his glass down on the bedside table and began to undress. Mello could see what he was doing out of the corner of his eye and made himself not look, if he did it would be over, he loved Matt's body. He kept his eyes on the TV as he heard the rustle of Matt's clothes and winced to himself when he heard the zipper on his jeans go and could hear the material as it slid down Matt's legs and onto the floor.  
Matt climbed into bed, and reached for his glass. He took a sip and then fumbled the glass, spilling most of the sticky chocolate liquid down his chest.  
"Damn it, I spilled most of it!" he complained and Mello turned to look at the damage and groaned. Matt had strategically let the chocolate flavored alcohol dribble down his chest and run down his stomach. Mello jumped up and headed towards the bathroom.

"I'll get a towel, hang on." He said nearly running into the next room. He stood at the doorway and tried to get control of himself. He knew Matt had done it on purpose, and it was driving him crazy. He grabbed a towel, went back to the bed and sat down, handing the towel to Matt.

"Here and stop wasting good alcohol." He said making the mistake of looking at him. Matt had run his fingers through some of the spilled drink and was sucking and licking at his fingers, staring directly at Mello.

"I'm not wasting it," he held out his fingers, "You want some?" Every nerve ending in Mello's body was on fire as he stared at Matt's fingers, and watched the alcohol as it slowly trickled down the red head's body, slowly making its way towards the shock of red above his cock.

It was more than Mello could stand, the combination of chocolate and Matt totally broke his resolve. He growled from deep inside his throat and leapt on Matt, licking from his mouth all the way down his body to get the chocolate liquid. Matt mentally high fived himself and giggled at his victory as Mello pulled away from him long enough to peel off his clothes.

"You're such a devious bastard!" Mello growled at him as he reached for the lube in the bedside table.

"I can't help it if you're a slave to your addictions!" Matt said laughing and then stopped breathing as Mello dribbled more of the chilly drink on his cock. He then took Matt into his warm mouth, the sensation from cold to hot made Matt cry out and clutch the bed. Mello then began to suck him earnestly, the taste of his two favorite things, Matt and chocolate, heightening his own excitement and arousal as much as his actions were pushing Matt faster to the edge than he'd ever done before.

Mello groaned, his tongue finding every drop of the Godiva he had poured, delighting in the ever escalating moans from Matt, watching him writhe before him. But he wouldn't let him finish yet, he was going to torture Matt as long as he could, bringing him very close but not letting him come until he was good and ready. He swallowed Mello down his throat, delighting in the strangled cry that came out of the red head, and then slowly pulled away, his tongue flicking out to give the tip a quick lick before dropping him completely out of his mouth. He sat up grinning evilly at Matt as his lover tried to catch his breath and looked at him confused.

"What..,why…"he stammered sitting up and Mello merely smiled at him as he poured the lube on his fingers.

"Well since you worked so hard to get to this point, you wouldn't want it to be over so soon would you?" he smirked and Matt groaned and fell back against the pillow. Mello moved his fingers to circle around Matt's opening, massaging around the tight ring of muscles but not going in. He knew he was driving Matt crazy and that made it even more delicious.

"Mello you're killing me!" Matt finally cried out and the blonde laughed.

"Yea, I know. Sucks doesn't it?" He leaned down and captured Matt's mouth with his before he could answer. He took that opportunity to insert one finger slowly, causing Matt to groan against his mouth, his eyes closing and his hips moving against the intruding finger.

Within a few minutes he had all three fingers inside, assaulting Matt's prostate with every move of his hand, bringing him again to the very edge, and then withdrew his fingers, leaving him wanting again.  
"You're doing this on purpose!" Matt groaned and Mello lay down next to him, making little swirls on his chest with his fingers.

"Really? Why would you say that? How cruel do you think I am?" he asked innocently.

"Pretty damned cruel, Mello please do I have to beg?" Mello leaned up on one elbow and looked into the pained blue eyes.

"Yes, I think that would make us even." Matt groaned and ran a hand through his sweat dampened hair.

"Okay, okay I'm begging!" Mello leaned downed and kissed him deeply.

"What are you begging for?" he whispered.

"For you to fuck me and if you don't do it soon I'm gonna shoot you with your own gun!" Mello laughed and moved into position behind Matt.

"Now that you've begged so sweetly, how can I refuse?" he said adding more lube to his hand and putting on himself. He then moved Matt's legs and moved forward, pressing the head of his cock against Matt's opening, but not going in. It was now Matt's turn to growl as he moved his hips to try to capture it. Mello laughed again and then decided it was time to end the torture as it was beginning to get to him as well. He pushed into Matt, slowly at first and then with one final push he was completely inside him.

Matt cried out at the sudden intrusion, but so glad it had finally happened. Mello took his time with long, slow strokes, as he bent over and kissed Matt, kissing down his neck and down to his chest. Matt tolerated the slowness for a while until he couldn't stand it any longer. He reached up and pulled Mello to him, staring deeply into his eyes.

"Stop fucking like an old man and get on with it!" he told him, and Mello burst out laughing.

"Okay, you asked for it." He said and grabbing Matt's hips he increased his speed and depth of his thrusts. Matt's eyes closed, and he met each thrust eagerly.

It didn't take long for both of them to reach the edge, Mello's fingers digging into Matt's hips as he felt his release roll through him, slamming into Matt almost brutally. Matt welcomed it, his own release exploding from him at the same time, erupting harder than he could remember because of having to wait so long.

Mello collapsed on top of him, a giggle managing to come through in spite of his trying to catch his breath.

"We're even now," he said finally and Matt punched his shoulder.

"It's a good thing I love you!" Matt complained and Mello grinned.

"Yea, but you do love me." He said and kissed him tenderly.

"Yea, I do, stupid me." Matt said and laughed as Mello pulled the sheets around them. Lying on his side behind Matt, Mello reached forward and pulled the red head against him, kissed the back of his neck and wrapped his arm around him. He leaned his head against Matt's and they both fell into an exhausted, sated sleep.

They had forgotten to close the blinds over the huge wall length window, so when the sun came up, it's rays spread out across Light and L as they lay sleeping in each other's arms. Light woke up first, shielding his eyes against the rays as he pryed his eyes open. He extracted himself from L's grasp without waking him, got out of bed and closed the blinds. He got back into bed and for just a few minutes he just sat there, watching L sleep. Those impossibly large eyes were closed, the dark lines underneath standing in stark contrast against his pale skin even in sleep. He reached over and gently moved strands of raven black hair from his face and smiled as a quiet sigh escaped from his slightly opened mouth.

There was no doubting his feelings, he knew he loved this slightly strange detective, he was sure of it. Light knew he had feelings for him almost a year ago, but since he wasn't sure exactly where L stood, he never voiced it, but merely used every opportunity to work and talk with him. He looked at the clock on the bedside table and sighed. He really should get up, he needed to go home, shower and get clean clothes before going to work, but he didn't want to leave L yet. It took him a long time to get to this point, he didn't want it to end this soon.

He lay back down and snuggled up against L, wrapping his arm around him and closing his eyes. He would stay here until the last possible minute, and he needed to be there when L woke up. This had been L's first time and he wouldn't let him wake up alone, it would send the wrong message and he didn't want to do that at all. He might be a little late for work this morning, but he didn't really care. He knew this was the most important thing that could happen to him right now, and he would do whatever he had to do it right. He smiled and let himself fall back asleep


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

When L opened his eyes he was immediately confused as to where he was. It was so rare he actually used a bedroom in the hotels he stayed at, there was nothing immediately recognizable as he looked around. Then he looked to his left and stared into Light's sleeping face, and he smiled. He remembered everything now and why he ended up sleeping in the bedroom. He very rarely ever slept at all, it simply wasn't necessary and the few times he did fall asleep it was always in his chair.

He gently touched Light's face, then leaned forward and kissed him softly, mostly to prove to himself that he really was there. Light's eyes fluttered open at the touch and he smiled at the sight of the large eyes staring back at him.

"Good morning," he said and then returned L's kiss, "How are you feeling?" he asked and L looked at him quizzically.

"I feel fine, more rested than I have in quite a while and…." He stopped short when he tried to sit up. The ache in the lower part of his body made itself quite clear and he groaned.

"Yea, I thought so." Light said and sat up scooting out of bed, "Don 't move, I'm going to run you a bath, it will help." He opened one of the closet doors, knowing this type of hotel would pride itself on leaving fluffy robes for its wealthy patrons, and as he suspected there were two white ones hanging inside. He grabbed one and threw it on, tying it closed as he looked around the room for a door that might lead to the bathroom.

"If...if you're looking for the bathroom..." L said pointing to a door at the other end of the room. He once again tried to pull himself up and grimaced at the pain. Light went back to him and sat down on the bed.

"Relax until I get the bath ready and don't worry it's not always going to be like this, first time can be a bitch though." He said smiling and L smiled back at him.

"So I see. As much as I enjoyed it if this is what I had to expect afterwards each time I'd have to rethink my choices." Light laughed and kissed his forehead.

"Alright, be right back," he stopped and suddenly became aware of the aroma of coffee, "Do I smell coffee?" L nodded.

"Watari is probably bringing coffee and breakfast." He said and tried again to move.

"Stay right there, let me start the bath water and I'll go and get your breakfast." Light said and moved to do just that before L could protest. L stared after him, his thumb coming to his mouth as he tried to process what was happening. Other than Watari no one had ever done anything for him, at least that he could remember and yet here was Light fussing over him. He wasn't sure he knew exactly what to do with it, so he decided to just let Light do what he wanted, it was easier that way. Light started the tub, making sure the temperature of the water wasn't too hot, then came back out and opened the door to the living room, closing it behind him. He smiled as he did so, as he had seen the perplexed look on L's face, his thumb at his mouth as he watched Light go by. He had learned that was a sign of him thinking about something deeply, and he could only assume L was wondering at what he was doing. Knowing L had never had a relationship he knew he had no idea what went on in one, no wonder he looked confused.

As L had said, Watari was in the main room, moving a trolley of pastries across the floor towards L's desk. He looked up and smiled at Light, nodding.

"Good morning, Detective Yagami. There is coffee, pastries and fruit if you'd like." Light wasn't exactly sure what Watari thought of him standing there in only a robe and realizing what it meant, but apparently it didn't phase the older man a bit. He poured a cup of coffee and began to practically fill it with sugar and cream, then placed it on a tray with several pastries and handed it to Light.

"I imagine he would rather this came from you this morning than me under the circumstances, Detective," he said winking and Light laughed relieved.

"You might be right, Watari, thank you, and please, Light is fine." He said taking the tray. He turned and went back into the bedroom, balancing the tray as he opened the door. L had managed to sit up and was surprised to see Light carrying a tray.

"Watari suggested I bring this to you rather than him." Light told him as he walked over to the bed and L sighed, his thumb coming back up to his mouth and a small blush appearing on his face.

"I see, then he knows." He said quietly as Light placed the tray on the bedside table.

"Obviously, and he doesn't seem to be worried about it at all. Relax, L you've done nothing to be ashamed of. Here, take your…coffee flavored sludge while I check on your bath." He said handing L the cup and turning his nose up at its contents. L took it, taking a sip and smiled.

"You may think it's sludge, but it is quite tasty." He said as Light walked to the bathroom with a shudder.

"I'm surprised you just don't simply chew it." He said laughing. He turned off the water and tested it one more time, it needed to be very warm but not too hot. He smiled as he swirled his hand in the water, it was perfect. He walked back into the bedroom and watched as L licked the chocolate from a donut and a small shiver of arousal ran through him. No time for that kind of thinking, he told himself, he did have to get to work at some point this morning, and L certainly wasn't ready for another round yet.

He helped L out of the bed and marched him towards the bathroom. L couldn't believe the ache he felt, it made it difficult to even walk properly. He looked at Light's determined face as he helped him get into the bathroom and realized he didn't care even if he did have to face this every morning, it was worth every moment.

He sat down in the warm bath after Light made him take a quick cleansing shower and groaned in pleasure, Light had been right, it felt really good. He leaned against the back of the tub, closed his eyes and sighed happily. He had never taken the time to take a bath like this, a quick shower was all he allowed himself daily, there was always too much to do to waste time in a bathtub. He heard Light moving around and he opened his eyes again to see what he was doing. He was going through cabinets and checking the shelves.

"What are you looking for?" he asked him, and Light looked at him.

"Where's your shampoo and body wash? Do you have it in another room?" he asked, and L stared at him wide eyed.

'"Body wash? If you mean soap it's in the shower and I don't generally worry about shampoo, I just get my hair wet and use the soap." Light looked horrified and stood with his hands on his hips shaking his head.

"Soap? On your hair? That's so bad for your hair, it will dry it out! No wonder it's reaching out in all directions. What about Matt and Mello, I'm sure they must have shampoo at least."

"Light, it isn't necessary to worry about my hair right now, although I appreciate your concern even if I'm not sure I understand it." L said and Light sighed and kneeled by the bathtub.

"Okay, but when I come back I'm bringing you proper toiletries." He said and L looked at him earnestly.

"You're coming back?" he asked quietly and Light looked at him and smiled.

"Ofcourse I'm coming back, if you want me to. What a ridiculous question," He said and leaned forward and kissed him.

"I'm sorry, I had to ask, I needed to be sure that what you said last night…that you didn't change your mind in the light of day."

"What, that I thought I loved you? You're right, I was wrong about that, I have changed my mind."

"I see," L said quietly and looked down, "Your feelings are not what you thought?" he asked. Light reached over and took L's face in both of his hands.

"No, I told you I thought I loved you. I know now I do love you, period. I love you L…Ryuzaki…whatever you want to call yourself." He leaned in and kissed him deeply, then pulled back and smiled, "Now, relax for a while and I'd better go grab that other robe in the closet because if I keep kneeling here looking at you we'll never get out of this bathroom." He stood up and went to the bathroom door and opened it.

"Light, I love you too." He heard from behind him in almost a whisper and he grinned back at L before running out to get the robe.

Half an hour later they were both in the main room, having more coffee and pastries before Light realized he had to leave.

"I've got to go home and shower and get clean clothes before I go to work," he said finishing up his coffee.

"Perhaps you may want to think about bringing some things here as we do not know how long this case will last," L suggested and then blushed slightly when Light looked at him and smiled.

"Is that an open invitation?" he asked and then laughed as L's slightly uptilted nose went even higher into the air.

"Merely an offer of expediency." He said as Light grinned and checked his watch and stood up.

"I will take it under consideration and when I come back before heading out to the meeting, perhaps I will bring some clothes with me." He leaned over L and kissed him.

"I'll call you if I come up with anything else on the case before I come back." He said and L nodded just as Matt and Mello came through the door, Matt carrying his laptop under his arm. At seeing Light standing over L they looked at each other and grinned.

"Good morning, guys" Light said happily and then grabbed his suit jacket, "I've got to go right now, but call me when you're on your way to check out the building, I'd like to go with you." He leant down to kiss L again but L moved away, making it obvious he didn't want to in front of the boys. Light leaned down and whispered in his ear.

"It's alright, L they know, you don't have to hide anything from them." He said and L sighed and looked up at him.

"Perhaps but there is no need to flaunt in front of them" he answered quietly and Light smiled.

"I think there is, I'm happy about it and I'm not hiding it from anyone I don't have to. I know the rest of the world can't know, but they certainly can," He said, kissed L quickly and then ran out of the door. Matt and Mello's smiles got even bigger as they watched L's face color slightly again before he looked up at them.

"Everything seems to have worked out okay then?" Mello asked and L lowered his legs and stood up...slowly.

"If you are asking if Light and I have established a relationship then your answer is yes, I believe we have." He looked at them both and smiled. "I must thank you both for your help in this, I could not have done this without your support."

"Just as long as you're happy, L that's all that matters, we're glad we could help." Matt told him and tried not to giggle as he watched L walk towards his desk with a slight limp, "Nice legs." He added as he watched L walk in the robe. L stopped and looked down, he had forgotten he was still in the robe. He turned and walked to his bedroom without another word, causing the boys to practically double over in laughter as soon as the door was shut behind him.

The laughter was immediately quieted when L came out dressed and obviously in full L mode as the very air around him seemed to crackle with electricity the minute he walked out of the door. He appraised them as he walked to his desk, eyes letting them know fun time was definitely over.

"What are your plans for checking out the building?" L asked them as he gingerly sat on his chair, slowly drawing his knees up to his chest. Mello poured himself coffee and grabbed a Danish from the table.

"Matt found a blueprint of the building on line this morning while we were checking out the building, would you like to check it out?" he asked and L nodded. Matt opened his lap top and brought up the file, sending a copy to L's computer.

"As you can see there are several entrances and exits in this building, there's the main double doors, one in the back and then upstairs there's an emergency exit that leads to a small balcony and an escape ladder. It was originally a movie theatre, renovated to a community center when it closed a few years ago. So the upstairs houses what used to be the projection room, I'm assuming it's being used for storage or office space right now. The area is not the most built up, lots of tiny streets and alleys with little to no lighting which makes it easy for our killer to not get caught."

"All three bodies were found in their homes, so we can assume the killer either went home with them or arrived sometime later after they arrived home. As we had discussed before, obviously someone they all knew and trusted as there was no evidence of a break in and the doors were unlocked when the police arrived. So it's obvious the killer wore gloves."

"And their cars?" L asked studying the blue print, knowing the answer but wanting to see if they had taken the time to check it out.

"Their cars were all parked at their homes, no other fingerprints than their own inside." Mello answered proudly, he had studied this case after all.

"It is also possible they rode together," L mused his thumb at his lips, "If they had become acquainted enough during the meetings to be involved in the type of discussions that got them killed, and yet did not want to be seen together in a public place, being in one vehicle would afford them the opportunity."

"What could they all be discussing between themselves that would be dangerous enough to someone to get them killed?" Matt wondered aloud and L shook his head.

"If we knew that we would know the who as well as the why. Now, your plans?"

"When we're done here, Matt and I will head down to the building and make a thorough examination of the area, as well as the areas where the bodies were found for anything the police may have missed. We will install cameras outside each exit and if there are any utility poles around the building we'll stick a couple there to watch the comings and goings in the area, maybe a listening device if we can find a good spot." L nodded.

"We only have the one chance to do that unnoticed. Once Light goes in there and announces who he is, if we're correct that the killer is there, he will do what is necessary to save himself and will most likely be on the lookout for any kind of suspicious activity around the building. Doing this kind of operation during the day makes it twice as dangerous, try not to be seen by too many people, separate to cover more areas quickly and keep the chatter to a minimum. I do not wish the killer to think he's managed to get away with this and decide he can continue doing with impunity, so the quicker we catch him the better. Please keep in contact during the operation, let me know exactly what is going on. Watari will transport you." He pressed the button on his intercom.

"Yes, L?"

"They are ready to leave as soon as you are ready."

"I will meet them in front of the building in five minutes." He said and snapped off.

"Alright we're on our way." Mello said heading for the door.

"I would appreciate it if you would take precautions every step of the way." L said unfolding slowly from the chair, "This is going to be very dangerous, I need you to be aware of this and take the necessary precautions at all times. We are not certain that the killer is not going to be in the area during the day."

"We'll be fine, L its only checking out the area. Tonight might be more exciting, but this will be easily taken care of." Mello said, then grinned, "But thanks for the warning, Dad."

"Mello, I'll meet you at the car in just a minute." Matt said and Mello nodded and went out of the door. Matt walked over to the table and picked up his laptop and then turned to L and walked over to him.

"Listen, just so you know, you only feel like this the first time," he said quietly, "By tomorrow you're gonna be fine, believe me." L looked slightly startled and looked away for a moment. Then he sighed and turned back to face him.

"I see. You experienced the same?" he asked and Matt nodded.

"You have no idea, Mello's an animal." He said laughing and L looked away again.

"I don't think I need to have that kind of information; however, I do appreciate the advice." Matt smiled at him and then headed for the door until L's voice stopped him.

"Matt, please remember that Mello can be impetuous and sometimes moves before he thinks, I need you to make sure he keeps that at a minimum. Keep in constant contact."

"He's not as bad as you think when he's actually working L, but I will make sure he behaves. Stop worrying so much, we'll be fine. I'll contact you as soon as we arrive." L nodded and allowed him to leave. He turned back to his computer, he needed to contact Near and see how he was doing.

Near looked from the starry night sky to Jennifer's face. She was staring up at the stars, the constellations bright and visible as there were not many lights outside of the Wammy mansion and nothing else for miles outside of the property to interfere with their natural light.

"I don't think I've ever just sat out here and looked at the stars," he said softly and she looked at him.

"Then you've been missing out, it's a beautiful sight," she said looking from him back to the sky. He looked back up and pointed out what he could recognize immediately.

"Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, they're the easiest to see," he pointed out, "Then there's Orion's belt right there..."

"Near, can I ask you a question?" she ventured quietly.

"Yes." He answered.

Do you have a girlfriend?" Near started visibly at the question, and he could feel his face warm.

"I…I have not had the opportunity…" she laughed merrily, eyes twinkling in mischievous delight.

"How could you spending all of your time with Mr. Ryuzaki locked up in whatever office you're in." she said and he looked insulted.

"I enjoy what I do, my role is an important one. I don't feel as if I'm locked up anywhere." He said and she sighed.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult you. But don't you ever want to just go out and just hang around with someone? Maybe go out to dinner, go shopping..." she stopped and looked him over, "Well maybe not so much shopping, but Near don't you ever want to go outside of Wammy's?"

Near shook his head, he really had no desire for going anywhere outside of Wammy's unless it was absolutely necessary. He'd had that discussion with Matt and Mello a couple of years ago when they decided they wanted to go to New York and work for L there and they had assumed he would be joining them.

"There is nothing beyond these walls that interests me," he said, "And other than those I work with, I don't have anyone with whom I would wish to just "hang" with. The type of work that I do, things can change at any time, I can't really be too far away from my desk for very long periods of time, especially with Ryuzaki gone." Jennifer stood up and brushed off her clothes.

"Well, I would get stir crazy just looking at this place constantly day in and day out without some kind of change of scenery. But for now, how about we just go for a walk around the property before I have to go home, see how many more constellations we can recognize?" she smiled down at him and stretched out her hand. He looked up at her and stared at her hand for a moment as he tried to understand what she wanted. She reached down and grabbed his hand from twirling in his hair and pulled him up to a standing position.

"You know you'll go bald in that spot if you keep doing that" she said laughing and he looked indignant.

"There is no scientific proof to that statement." He said seriously and it just made her laugh harder.

"Near, you have to relax a little, stop being so serious about everything. You'll feel better, I…"she stopped when the sound of his cell phone pierced the quiet night air. He pulled his hand back from her and dug in his pocket for the phone, knowing who it had to be.

"This is Near," he answered indicating to Jennifer that she needed to be quiet.

"Near, anything interesting to report?" he heard L ask him.

"No, things are pretty quiet right now. Your new contact is turning out to be very resourceful, he followed the latter one’s trail without fault and is right on track with the case. I should think when we hear from him again, you'll be able to crack this one."

"Excellent, I am fairly sure we'll be done with this one rather quickly as well, we have opened some new leads and are checking out where we think our killer comes from even as we speak."

"That's great," Near said and then started as Jennifer began to card through his hair with her fingers.

"I don't think I'll bother you again this evening, keep up with what's happening on our other case and let me know tomorrow." At that moment Jennifer sneezed, much to Near's great alarm. She covered her mouth with both hands and tried not to giggle. L was quiet for a moment as he realized what that sound had to be.

"Where are you, Near?" he asked finally and Near hesitated a moment before answering.

"Outside of the building, I was looking at the stars." He finally answered.

"YOU were looking at the stars?" L echoed and had to smile.

"Well, we…I and a friend." Near stammered.

"A friend, ah I see. Well then, continue star gazing, but make sure you will be ready when I call tomorrow."

"I will be, don't worry." Near assured him.

"I am not worried, I know what I expect from you." L said and signed off, sitting back in his chair and thinking. He knew that sneeze came from a female, but somehow he had difficulty picturing Near with a girl, he just never seemed to show any kind of interest in that sort of thing. He sighed and decided he would take this time to get some fresh coffee while he waited to hear from the boys—and not think about Near.


End file.
